History Club Study Group

The History Club is hosting a session to help with papers this Thursday from 7-9 p.m. in the Friedsam Library, lower level conference room. Be there or be square. This is crunch time, so take advantage of this opportunity for help with assignments.

One of Dr. Horowitz's Books Published in Argentina

Dr. Joel Horowitz of the History Department has just had published in Argentina El radicalismo y la movilización popular (1916-1930), a book which explores the manner in which the then largest political party, the Radical Party mobilized popular support in the city of Buenos Aires. The publisher is Edhasa a major commercial press in Argentina. The book is a translation of an English language book which was published in 2008 by Pennsylvania State University Press.

In this book, Horowitz examines democracy‘s first appearance in a country that appeared to satisfy all the criteria that political developmental specialists of the 1950s and 1960s identified as crucial. This experiment lasted in Argentina from 1916 to 1930, when it ended in a military coup that left a troubled legacy for decades to come. What explains the initial success but ultimate failure of democracy during this period? According to Horowitz, a crucial element is the reaction to the way that the governing party mobilized popular backing. Horowitz does this by showing how that party forged ties with unions, and the popular classes and the backlash that this produced in certain sectors.

History Club Trivia Night

The history club is hosting a trivia night this Thursday , April 16 at 7 pm in Cafe La Verna. Dr. Horowitz is hosting (step aside Alex Trebek).

Friday Afternoon Gaming

 As mentioned in previous posts, the History Department and History Club hosted a game event as part of Leah's independent study on game design and gamification in history.  We had a good turnout, as you can see in the pictures, as folks played a variety of games including traditional winner-take-all games like Risk and cooperative games like Flash Point,  Ticket to Ride proved popular although, sadly, there were no takers for Settlers of Catan.  We'll have to fix that in the future.  We also broke out a micro game and a Civil War themed combat game.  While this was part of an academic event, perhaps more importantly lots of people had lots of fun with some pizza.

History Class Workshop

The History Club is continuing its workshops on how to do well in a history class this Thursday at 7 p.m. in the lower seminar room in Friedsam Library.  If you are taking a history class and want help with a paper, test, or other assignment stop by and get some feedback and help.

History Club Meeting is Tomorrow!

The History Club will be meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Plassmann Lounge to discuss the spring trip and work on a Trivia Night game to be hosted for the entire campus community. All are welcome!

Game On

Join us March 20 in the basement of Friedsam Library where we'll be playing board and/or tabletop games starting at 2:30.  Since  we're going to be playing board games, it wouldn't be a complete experience without ordering pizza.  So stop by, role some dice and eat a slice.  This is a relaxed event, so if you can't be there at 2:30 that's okay.  We'll have a several games going so folks can hop in or head out as need be.

Why are we doing this?

This semester Leah Brownstein, Dennis Frank, and I have been exploring the academic side of games and how games can be applied in the classroom and history.  We're planning how students enrolled in History 206:  Intro to Public History (Fall 2015) can build games themed around the collection of the New York 154th Regiment.

There is a long history (get it?) of historically themed games.  Oregon Trail anyone?  Of course, video games have exploded and with that the historical trend has continued.  Assassin's Creed?  In recent years board games have made a comeback (more fun to play as a group in person?).  Gamification has also emerged out of primarily video games, which is using game elements for non-game purposes.  Even if you haven't heard of gamification you have seen it, almost anytime you get on the web and see a leader board, badge, patch, or similar thing.  LinkedInn has them.  Obviously, Facebook not only uses gamification but also has a lot of games available.  What I haven't figured out is how Angry Birds relates to history.  Yet.