Thoughts from Underhill

This past Friday I had the opportunity to present some of the ideas I ramble on about here in public, face to face with other history students and enthusiasts and even a CanStud or two in the crowd at the Underhill Graduate Colloquium at Carleton University. I called my presentation "The Historical Narrator on Twitter" and was slotted to present alongside a good friend and colleague who looks at hate on YouTube, specifically Holocaust denial within a session about the Digital Humanities.

My main points were the following and I will address them in a bit more detail below.

• I asked who some of the historical narrators on Twitter are
• I asked about their responsibilities
• I presented some of my own work as a case study, specifically my project about the #SpringhillBump which I completed in the fall of 2012.
• I turned to the topic of entertainment value vs. educational value which is the main topic for this blog and questioned whether or not it has to be one or the other
• I briefly talked about sharing the stage with other narrators and then before concluding I shared some best practices that I've been able to glean from my work and experience.

• I asked who some of the historical narrators on Twitter are
• My main point here is that there too many historical narrators on Twitter to count, keep track of etc.  So I based this part of my presentation on my own Twitter feed and users I follow.  So the usual culprits are organizations like Parks Canada, the Heritage Canada Foundation, Canada's History (a history magazine), the Historica-Dominion Institute and of course university centres like the Carleton Centre for Public History (run by the lady who I sat beside!)
• I also touched on individuals who are narrators of history on Twitter and in this case I feel as though a network is most important because this is how I have connected with them.  I follow several individuals who tweet about history or who tweet about their own lives, as historical figures who are present on Twitter do. (i.e. Sir John A Macdonald, Queen Victoria)
• I asked about their responsibilities
• I started at the top, what's the responsibility of a narrator? It's to orient the audience
• So how does a narrator do this on Twitter?  Through their profile description and twitter handle
• And what about within their tweets?  This is where hashtags and clues like #tdih (this day in history) come in really handy
• I presented some of my own work as a case study, specifically my project about the #SpringhillBump which I completed in the fall of 2012
• You can read about the event itself in one of my other blogging adventures http://springhillbump.blogspot.ca/ which was linked to a school project where I explored the role of the historical narrator on Twitter
• Within the case study I turned to the topic of entertainment value vs. educational value which is the main topic for this blog and questioned whether or not it has to be one or the other
• Example 1: The Ottawa Rough Riders and the Toronto Argos get incorporated into a tweet about a mining disaster in Nova Scotia.  It was all true but for whatever reason it didn't seem to generate any excitement
• Example 2: Will & Kate, I encourage you to read the blogpost both about Prince Phillip's visit to Nova Scotia during the disaster and Will & Kate's visit to Slave Lake Alberta in the wake of the fires that destroyed much of the town just months before the royal couple's visit to Canada in the summer of 2011
• I briefly talked about sharing the stage with other narrators and then before concluding I shared some best practices that I've been able to glean from my work and experience.
• In terms of best practices I presented the following as the top two: Use of profile description to orient the audience with regard to time period, objectives of project etc. AND the espousal of a constant voice and style of narration throughout the story being told
• I suggested and questioned other potential best practices such as the use of hashtags and @mentions, and the use of multimedia content

Overall, this experience to share my research and thoughts on the topic was really valuable and I encourage anyone who is similarly enthusiastic about a topic to do the same.  It's a great opportunity to put your ideas out there in a really supportive environment and to get feedback from people who are potentially a huge wealth of information and ideas for you.

Divergence: Assasin's Creed & History

Although my blog has been focusing on Twitter I’ve taken a moment here to switch media and talk about video games and history, or more appropriately, historically-themed video games like the ever popular Assasin’s Creed.  The Globe and Mail article on the topic got me going this morning and I’d like to address a few points that hit closer to home with my usual entertainment value vs. historical fact theme.  For your reference you can find the article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/are-video-games-like-assassins-creed-rewriting-history/article9237302/?page=all

This article is an interesting addition to the others that have already been written on this video game and although I’m unsure as to what inspired this particular article to be published this week, the issue is nowhere near NEW.  The popularity of this particular video game, and its Canadian roots, are perhaps behind the recent media attention and I was drawn to it while perusing Tweets this fine Saturday morning instead of doing my course readings.

"But it has also tossed video games into the battle over how loyal entertainment has to be to history."

So are there rules? No.

Are there best practices? I'm sure there are.

Are there lessons learned?  Undoubtedly.

Do we care? It depends.

Not having studied much American history (shameful admittance) I have not been able to pick up on the sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious historical discrepancies within the game.  All of this said, sit me down in front of a WWII shooter and maybe I'll have something different to say about it.  These issues are not new; they're perhaps just newer to the video game industry.

"Common sense does suggest that we ought to care more about the pervasive effects of history mangling in video game: They are more popular (in sales), more anti-establishment, and played by millions of impressionable young people who could conceivably take fiction for fact."

The other day I was over at a friend’s house and was reading back issues of MacLean’s magazine (NERD ALERT).  I came across an article about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary (article: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/01/10/newtowns-pain/) and was surprised to find a reference to the popular (even in my house) video game, Call of Duty.  The message I got from the article was that because a child had played Call of Duty he understood how a gun worked and was able to escape the shooter while he was reloading his weapon.  I never thought I would ever be happy to know that a small child had played Call of Duty and taken something constructive from it (other than the message that war is bad).

But in this case we’re talking about history and video games are just one of the many media through which we all absorb information, be it right or wrong.  Just because I’m a university-educated person doesn’t mean I automatically know what is right or wrong in a historical movie, book or video game.  So this something we have to be aware of, but to what extent can we blame a privatized industry for what a public (education) industry isn’t teaching kids?

"There were many arguments along the way.  The game-play designers wanted rain gutters, so Connor could climb them.  Mr. Durand pointed out that rain gutters did not exist at the time.  His strict attention to detail paid off.  The game's version of Boston's State House is so painstaking that State House archivists have asked to use Ubisoft's documents in restoring the building."

This is pretty cool, especially with my experience in Heritage Conservation and knowing the amount of research necessary to develop plans for respectful restoration work.  And presumably in this case, the historian got his way and there are no rain gutters.  That said, I’ve watched Connor jump and climb around Boston and he is no way, shape or form in need of rain gutters.  He’s kind of Spiderman-like which just makes things that much cooler.

"The game's compelling, it's immersive, even when the history is, shall we say, sloppy.  It's a compelling way of connecting with the past and de-connecting with one's daily concerns.  We shouldn't hold video games to a higher standard than other forms of entertainment."

AGREED.  It’s a game, that’s it.  Could it be used as a teaching tool?  Sure.  Could Gone with the Wind be used as a teaching tool?  Saving Private Ryan? Titanic? You name the historical film and I assure you there is a teacher out there who has used the film in some way or another to teach or show perceptions and interpretations of history.

And in the end, isn’t that what it’s all about?  Museums, cultural institutions, the film industry, novels, it’s all about interpretation and showing the side of the story that helps along the fluff, right?  We all need to be comfortable choosing how much we’re willing to go ‘along with’ a story for the sake of the story, and that’s something that’s personal.  Flagrant disregard for historical fact is one thing, minor alterations is another.  Where does Assasin’s Creed fit?  Not sure, but I don’t feel comfortable making that judgment based on my own historical knowledge and limited time (compared to my husband) with the game.

That said, New England is beautiful in the 1700s (and yes, I just googled American Revolution to make sure I had the right century).