Welcome to the digital home of HSTR 491, Games, Play & History. I’m still working out some kinks in the website, so please forgive any hiccups along the way. My hope is this will be a more useful platform than D2L for facilitating your writing & continuing our discussion outside of class. This course is very much a work in progress on many levels, and I really encourage any feedback (good and bad!) on what you like, what you don’t, and what would make this a better experience for you.

By this weekend, please get yourself set up on the site (you will receive an invitation via email to create your author profile) & familiarize yourself with the layout. The D2L site is “active,” but beyond a copy of a syllabus and link to this site, is empty: everything we need is found here.

Important note: I was just notified today that Birth of the Chess Queen, our reading for Week 5, is NOT going to be available at the bookstore. However, it is available very cheaply on Amazon, including a 99¢ Kindle copy (which is not ideal, but will do in a pinch if absolutely necessary). Please make sure to procure a copy ASAP, so you have plenty of time to read it before its due date.

Image of polo players from a 16th century manuscript from the Freer & Sackler