Sea Ventures: A Digital History Survival Game was created through Dr. Michael Jarvis’ History course “Digital History: Historical Worlds, Virtual Worlds, and Virtual Museums.” We meet twice a week and each session is 75 minutes.

The course is unique, as far as History seminars go, due to it being primarily project-driven. We have readings (listed in the “Game-Focused Texts” under Further Reading) and periodic writing assignments, but beyond that, the course strikes out on its own. Instead of meeting in a seminar room, we meet in a lab outfitted with beefed up, program-laden computers. Instead of discussion (in the typical sense), we often spend class periods working on the project, talking about web or game elements and troubleshooting where needed. And, instead of a seminar or final paper, we hone our public writing skills through a blog describing the trials and tribulations of dedicating a semester to making a digital project.

This is to say that this class deviates from the academic norm and, as students who have long dwelled in that academic norm, we find this break refreshing. As Dr. Jarvis writes in his syllabus, we are learning to “practically apply technology to humanistic research and public education…harness[ing] emerging technologies to educate the public about the past” (my emphasis). For us, the emphasis on practical applications is critical to developing hard skills that will be compelling and transferable to a wide variety of job markets, especially those outside of academia, while still keeping an eye on how to use these hard skills in service of the public humanities.

Examples of those hard skills that we’ve already gained, thus far in the semester are:

• Making a project timeline: As in many Engineering capstones, we were required to make a detailed, week-by-week outline of our goals and expectations for completion.
• Making and delivering a project pitch: Our group was tasked with developing a 20-minute pitch that would be compelling to a group of investors.
• Learning digital skills: This has quickly taken many forms. We are in the process of learning and using Unity, PhotoShop, and After Effects to program the game itself. Additionally, we have had to radically expand our WordPress and ProCreate skills in order to make and develop most of the front-end layouts, logos, and text you see here.

For questions about implementing a project-focused digital course into your curriculum, contact Dr. Michael Jarvis at michael.jarvis@rochester.edu.