Pastplay: Teaching and Learning History with Technology

Acknowledgments

“Community, relationship, play.” The April 2010 symposium from which this book emerged was a testament to the words with which contributor Stephen Ramsay closes his chapter. Written before we met, his maxim became the catchphrase of our meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada. Credit for that spirit is due to the symposium participants, who became (along with their co-authors) the contributors to this volume. Thanks to Timothy Compeau, Patrick Dunae, Devon Elliott, Sean Gouglas, Shawn Graham, T. Mills Kelly, Stéphane Lévesque, Richard Levy, John Sutton Lutz, Robert MacDougall, Jeremiah McCall, Bethany Nowviskie, Stephen Ramsay, Geoffrey Rockwell, Ruth Sandwell, Brenda Trofanenko, and William J. Turkel. The two days we spent together were one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic career.

I am especially indebted to William J. Turkel, who helped me conceive of the Pastplay project, and then pushed it beyond its initial scope. This book is broader and deeper as a result of his imagination and wisdom. Matthew Kirschenbaum, who was unable to attend the symposium, later added an important dimension to our collection with his chapter on history and board games. Several months after the meeting, Geoffrey Rockwell and I met to conceptualize the introduction. He was characteristically insightful and generous, and our fruitful collaboration was a fitting coda to the project.

The gifted graduate students with whom I have had the pleasure of working with played an important role from beginning to end. Tom Mitrovic helped organize the initial gathering; as the symposium drew to a close, he received the thanks he deserved. “It was,” he was told on several occasions, “the best meeting that I’ve ever attended.” Nicki Darbyson, Emily Nolan, and Spencer Roberts supported the editing; and Spencer organized the index, with some playful technology and a lot of elbow grease. Thanks as well to the anonymous reviewers whose careful appraisal underscored the need for this book, and led to the improvement of its contents.

The University of Michigan Press, and specifically the “digitalculturebooks” imprint, was the ideal destination for our book. Many thanks to then-Editor in-Chief Thomas Dwyer, who agreed to publish Pastplay; and Editorial Assistant Christopher Dreyer, who shepherded it to completion. At BookComp, Nicholle Lutz expertly guided me through the final editorial process.

Pastplay would not have been possible without the financial support of The History Education Network/Histoire et éducation en réseau (THEN/HiER). Led by Penney Clark at the University of British Columbia, THEN/ HiER is the first pan-Canadian organization devoted to promoting and improving history teaching and learning by bringing together the multiple and varied constituencies involved in history education. Penney and my fellow THEN/HiER board members have been enthusiastic supporters of the project from the beginning, and I am honored that Pastplay is THEN/ HiER’s second major publication. Along with Penney, I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and its Strategic Knowledge Clusters Program which has funded THEN/HiER, and sub-projects such as this book. I also appreciate the support of the Canada Research Chairs program, and Brock University, both of which provided me with the time and funds to bring Pastplay to completion.

At home, Anne-Marie, Jacob, and Kathleen personify playfulness. They do not share my interest in its research, they simply make it happen. Finally this book is dedicated to the community of researchers, educators, practitioners, and students who are exploring imaginative, engaging ways to use new tools and environments to analyze and express history. I look forward to what emerges next from our sandbox.