Kids Are Learning History From Video Games Now
Kids Are Learning History From Video Games Now
Kids Are Learning History From Video Games Now
March 26, 2022
By Luka Ivan Jukic
Summary
Last year, Nicholas Mulder, a history professor at Cornell University, asked his Twitter followers to help him understand a certain kind of student in his classes: players of the video game Europa Universalis.
First, their influence is hard to track: Teachers may not even notice that the student asking why the Ottomans didn't colonize America or what happened to Burgundy may have a view of history that was molded by Paradox games.
Read: The difficult history of indigenous people in video games.
The idea of learning from strategy games has its roots in 19th-century Prussia, when officers trained in battlefield tactics using specially designed board games.
Well into the 20th century, similar board games fulfilled the role that Paradox games do for the historically curious.
The games are a good starting point for learning about history, but given their current limitations, their history "Needs to be supported by other sources," he added.
If you play a game like Europa Universalis, "You're going to start caring about the past, even if it's in a relatively superficial way. Anything that can call attention to periods or histories that most people wouldn't otherwise come across does a very real service." Paradox games give their players an expansive, detailed, exciting-and, yes, controversial-way to dive into history.
Reference
Jukić, L. (2022, March 26). Kids Are Learning History from video games now. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/history-video-games-europa-universalis/622892/