Thesis title:
Engagement, Learning and Creative Interpretation: The Videogame in the Museum Sector
Working Title: Playing With Interpretation: The Videogame in the Museum and Heritage Sector
My thesis will critically examine the prospective role of videogames in the museum and heritage sector, focussing specifically on their potential as a medium for active and participatory interpretative practice. It will explore how videogames and museum interpretation interact with ideas of narrative/storytelling, emotion/affect, and persuasive/procedural rhetoric in order to study how videogame affordances might be able to respond to modern museum interpretive needs and innovate interpretative practice.
Research Aims:
In particular, the research will explore the following:
- How is interpretation understood and variously undertaken within the museum and heritage sector?
- What are the affordances of the videogame medium that could address issues in museum interpretation?
- In which ways can videogames contribute to the museum and heritage sector’s development and design of digital tools for interpretation?
This thesis will argue:
- That academic conceptualisations of interpretation within a museum context are limited, and that its ability to accommodate the increasing diversity of interpretative media and participatory practices is also limited.
- That videogames and game studies has the potential to contribute significantly to a re-conceptualisation of contemporary interpretation practice.
Research Area
- Cultural and Museum Studies
- Heritage Management
Publications
Conferences
- All it Takes is Staff Time: A Lightning Round of Low-to-No Budget Projects - Panellist
Museum Computer Network Conference 2021 (Upcoming - October/November 2021)
- From Crosswords to Animal Crossing: Museum Interpretation and Digital Games During the Pandemic and Beyond
MUŻE.X Shaping Museum Futures (Upcoming - October 2021)
- Smocks and Simulators in Lockdown
Midlands Network of Popular Culture Annual Forum (19/08/2021)
- It's Super Effective! Crafting Interpretative Games for Museums
M4C Research Festival (07-10/06/2021)
- Videogames and Museums: Fields in Convergence
Museums+Tech 2020, Breakout Room (9-10/12/2020)
- Videogames: An Interpretative Tool for Museums
Interactive Pasts Conference Online 2 (5-6/11/2020)
- The Sum of its Parts - Twine Game and Poster
M4C Research Festival (13-14/07/2020)
- Playing with Interpretation: Videogames in the Museums and Heritage Sector
NTU Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Conference, Poster Presentation (02/12/2019)
- Playing with Interpretation: Videogames in the Museums and Heritage Sector
EmDoc 2019, Poster Presentation awarded highly commended in the best poster category (11/09/2019)
- Playing with Interpretation: Videogames in the Museums and Heritage Sector
2nd Global Heritage Conference, Poster Presentation (04/07/2019)
Other Talks:
- The Sum of its Parts
Recorded talk for the NTU MA History course as part of a mini-module, 'Digital Humanities' (10/03/2021)
- Videogames: An Interpretative Tool for Museums
NTU Work in Progress Seminar Series (22/10/2020)
- 'Nour is Busy': Procedural and Persuasive Rhetoric in Museum Interpretation
NTU Work in Progress Seminar Series (01/07/2020)
- Assassins Creed Origins: Discovery Tour
DCRN Retreat 'Show and Tell' Session (10/07/2019)
- Playing with Interpretation: The Videogame in the Museum and Heritage Sector
NTU History and Heritage Research Seminar (20/03/2019)
Public Engagement & Impact
- Collaboratively designed a short videogame as part of the creative response to the museum's collection for the #NJMIngenuity project and accompanying exhibition planned for 2023!
- Produced and ran training in the Twine software (in which the game was made) for museum staff to upskill and enable them to update / make their own games in future.
- Working on a workshop combining elements of play / game mechanics with a physical activity for a 'Make It Yours' workshop in collaboration with the National Justice Museum, planned for September 2021.
Teaching:
- Digital Participation and Interaction: Games and Play
Guest speaker as part of the NTU MA Museum and Heritage Development module 'Interpretation 2: Contemporary Narratives' 17/02/2021
Other Engagement:
- GLAMi Pool Juror for the MuseWeb 2021 Conference
- Member of the organising team for the online M4C Research Festival 2020
- Fieldwork with Nottingham Castle game projects (postponed due to COVID-19)
Conferences/Workshops Attended:
- Interrogating Audiences by the Institute for Screen Industries Research, University of Nottingham (09/07/2021)
- Midlands Network of Popular Culture Talk: 'Teachers as Game Designers... Seriously?' with Prof. Sylvester Arnab (16/02/2021)
- Museums and Digital Culture after the Pandemic (11/12/2020)
- Museums + Tech 2020: Museums in a Crisis (9-10/12/2020)
- Interactive Pasts Conference Online 2 (5-6/11/2020)
- Midlands Network of Popular Culture Inaugural Forum (13/08/2020)
- M4C Research Festival 2020 (13-14/07/2020)
- The Present and Future of Games and History (28/02/2020)
- NTU History Postgraduate Conference (13/11/19)
- DCRN Retreat 2019 (09-12/07/19)
- Museums Association: Museum Tech 2019 (27/06/19)
- M4C Research Festival 2019 (23/05/19)
- NTU Doctoral Students' Research Festival (29/03/19)
- Engaging with Nottingham Castle Future: Virtual Platforms & Public Engagement with Nottingham Castle User Groups Workshop (13/02/19)
CDF Involvement:
- Prince2 Project Management Training 2021 (co-applicant) - in progress
- Connecting the Pipeline (co-applicant) - successful
- Digital Culture 2020 Conference (co-applicant) - successful
- DCRN Academic Retreat (co-applicant) - successful
Other Research Interests
- Playful/informal learning
- Creative practice as research
- Videogames
- Digital cultures
Memberships
Professional Training and Development
- AHRC/ESRC Careers Workshop: Beyond the PhD (18/06/2021)
- 'Writing for a Public Audience' training by The Conversation (28/04/2021)
- PGR Career Management for Researchers at NTU (8-29/03/2021)
- M4C Student Advisory Forum representative for NTU (2019/2020)
- Evaluation Training Day with Nottingham Castle for upcoming prototype testing (07/02/2020)
- Teacher Training at NTU (27/11/19 - 17/12/2019)
- Lifting the Lid on the Creative and Cultural Industries (16/10/2019)
The Sum of its Parts
Misplaced - MA Twine Game
My MA research project game, based on Newstead Abbey.
Try it here!
