Dig in!

If I was asked... What do you want to accomplish?

I would say (ideally) I would want to find ways to make history appealing, cool, intriguing, and emotive to people who are both drawn to it and withdrawn from it. This is why I decided to do a Masters in Public History. Documentaries, podcasts, short films, and even puppet shows can be mediums that get people excited about learning and doing history.

If you're asking me about examples of digital or online history projects, exhibits, and games I would point you in three directions.

1. Do you want to experience life as a warrior living in the Holy Roman Empire? Perhaps you'd like to learn how to pickpocket for survival, distill alcohol or create your own medicine? You can experience all of this by playing the video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance I and II. Video games are an incredible interactive tool that acts as both a game and an exhibit (with today's modern technology) and is responsible for bringing kids, young adults, and adults to history for more than thirty years. Games like Assasin's Creed (though a work of fiction) draw inspiration from history and have captured my attention from a young age.

2. Do you thrive on competing with your closest friends and family? I certainly do. Trivia games are something that my family and I commonly reach for on family game nights. The 2022 History Channel trivia board game has caused many gasps and hurrays from our family room, and you'd be surprised how much contemporary history eludes us, even us history majors!

3. If you want to leave your house and board a plane (granted we've gotten used to our living rooms these last few years), I recommend the exhibit at Belfast's Titanic Museum where you can ACTUALLY set foot on a White Star Line ship and daydream about drinking tea in first class. This museum has a mock roller coaster ride which takes its occupants through parts of the Titanic, including the blistering heat of the hull where workers shovelled coal day and night. It is museums like this that inspire people from around the world to explore history. Short films, interactive exhibits, and real artifacts make visitors awe and even shed a tear at the 1912 Maritime Disaster that continues to captivate us over 100 years later!

In the future, I will share pictures of this experience and more from my backpacking trip across Europe last fall! My husband and I set out to stop at every historical site that has inspired us and these moments come with some exceptional stories and photos. Stay tuned!

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