Everything we do here builds on what came before. Some things carry formal grades because that’s the system we live in. Many things do not. Everything supports everything else.

According to section 2 of FASS Undergraduate Teaching Regulations and Procedures, this course outline constitutes a contract between you the student, and me, the professor. However, the word ‘syllabus’ (aka, the course outline), it seems is based on a misreading of a misprint of the greek word ‘sittybis’, meaning a table of contents. A table of contents is not a contract. Nevertheless, let us have a contract thus:

I, Professor Graham, agree to undertake to the best of my abilities, the task of challenging, guiding, and fostering in you, a deeper appreciation, awareness, and understanding for the ideas discussed in this class. You, for your part, agree to undertake the necessary intellectual work to meet me halfway, bringing your best abilities to bear, endeavouring to be receptive and prepared for all course-related activities. Together, we agree to create a community of learning and practice, such that true learning may occur.

Grade Breakdown

• in-class activities: see ‘engagement’ below
• interstitial 1: 10%
• interstitial 2: 20%
• interstitial 3: 30%
• unessay: 40%

Engagement

I’m not grading ‘participation’. Instead, I’m recommending that you come to class engaged. (Thank you to Mark Sample for sharing his thoughts on what engagement means). Let’s understand ‘engagement’ to mean things like -

• you’ve read and thought about the readings
• you’ve put your phone away, you’ve turned off notifications while we meet
• you listen actively to your comrades when they speak (you hear them, including what isn’t said, rather than use the time to think up what you’ll say)
• you refer to specific examples from the readings, the discussions
• you make connections between what you hear, read, say, and do
• you practice scholarly generosity

Engagement isn’t graded, either. If you’re engaged, it’ll show up in your other work. If you’re not, that’ll show up too. Your move.

Real Names Policy

I will ask you to use Github as an online repository for many of the things you’ll build/make. You do not need to use your real name or identity on any public-facing work that you do in this course. Nor do you need to explain to me that you wish to use a pseudonym. It is sufficient that you send an email to me with the following message:

‘I would like to use the following username in all public-facing work: xxxxxxxx’

…where xxxxx is the name you have selected. For safety’s sake, if you decide to use a pseudonym, do not use one that you have used on any other website or social media platform.

Nor do you have to make a repository ‘public’; you may set the repo to ‘private’ but make sure to invite shawngraham as a collaborato (that’s my Github username; my avatar is a minion, by the way).

Example Repos and Vaults

An example github repository showing the structure to follow for depositing your interestitial work online is here.

The organization of the layout for your unessay will depend on the form it takes. You might wish to use this vault for Obsidian to organize the development of your Unessay. NB a ‘vault’ = ‘folder of text files.’ Download that folder, and use Obsidian to explore/modify it.

The ‘course handbook’ Obsidian vault is available here; unzip that. You can drag and drop from your computer to your github repo any notes you make. You could also copy all of the files from the game design vault (folder) and drop them into your course vault (folder) so that everything is in one place.

Remember: drag files using your file explorer (pc) or finder (mac) onto your github repository webpage to upload; hit the green ‘commit’ button on that page once they’ve uploaded. Then fill in the google form to alert me that there is material you’d like me to look at.

Criteria for Interstitials

The focus of these interstitial exercises and your recording of your thinking is on the development of your process, on your evolution in the course - not on your technical prowess.

For each interstitial, you will you will place your various log.md files, your reflection.md, and any other supporting files (screenshots, etc) as necessary into a private or public github repo, and then submit the link to the repo to me via an online form. Remember: Upload to github; send me the link.

Guidance on using Github and getting it set up is available from my ‘crafting digital history’ course materials here.

Guidance on using the conventions of markdown in a text file (eg a text file where you ‘save as’ with the .md file extension) to indicate titles, headers, links, bullets and so on is available here. If you’d like to practice markdown, try Dillinger.io

Points to ponder:

• are things well documented? Could you pick up where you left off? (logs)
• is there evidence of careful, reflexive thinking? Is there evidence of taking in the discussions, making connections between what you have done/heard/read? Explicitly cite materials that underpin your thinking using Harvard author-date contextual citations. (reflections)
• is there evidence for how feedback has been considered, adopted, adapted? Is there evidence for a developing sophistication in the work?

Assessment will be along the spectrum “unsatisfactory - satisfactory - exceptional”. Numerically, this translates as:

• unsatisfactory: 0-2 points (ie, F-D range)
• satisfactory: 3-4 points (ie, C-B range)
• exceptional: 5 points (ie, A-A+ range)

Do not let ‘points’ distract you from the serious effort this course requires.

I will return feedback as soon as possible, usually within a week.

Unessay

Your unessay is a creative engagement around a historical or archaeological micro-episode. Through your unessay, you will provide an answer to the main questions of this course. I expect that most of you will use a game engine/technology, although other ‘immersive’ digital approaches are welcome. I am open to many suggestions; discuss with me sooner rather than later.

• It should contain at least 30 minutes of immersive experience, broadly conceived
• Its source code should be stored in a github repo (public or private; but if set to private, add ‘shawngraham’ as a collaborator)
• All of the research and process notes should be provided, showing the evolution of the project from initial concept through to submitted ‘thing’. These can be text files in mardown format, in a subfolder of the repo.
• There should be a game design document (or similar).
• There should be a paradata document that situates what the experience is trying to do: use the HPS framework (or adapt it) to the situation.

The unessay will be assessed on how compelling and effective it is (following Paul Daniel O’Donnell):

The main criterion is how well it all fits together. That is to say, how compelling and effective your work is.

An unessay is compelling when it shows some combination of the following:

• it is as interesting as its topic and approach allows
• it is as complete as its topic and approach allows (it doesn’t leave the audience thinking that important points are being skipped over or ignored)
• it is truthful (any questions, evidence, conclusions, or arguments you raise are honestly and accurately presented)

In terms of presentation, an unessay is effective when it shows some combination of these attributes:

• it is readable/watchable/listenable (i.e. the production values are appropriately high and the audience is not distracted by avoidable lapses in presentation)
• it is appropriate (i.e. it uses a format and medium that suits its topic and approach)
• it is attractive (i.e. it is presented in a way that leads the audience to trust the author and his or her arguments, examples, and conclusions).

You might ask, ‘can I collaborate on graded things?’ Your interstitials are meant to be done by you alone but I fully expect that your ideas will emerge in discussion with other people: in that case, you would cite/acknowledge that interaction in your work you submit.

You are free to collaborate on the Unessay – even with someone outside of this course.

BUT you must fully document and discuss the complete nature of the collaboration, and demonstrate in what you submit to me that the work is equitable, appropriately apportioned, and that your contributions meet the goals of the exercise. Therefore, every member of a collaborative group, vis-à-vis the Unessay, must make a submission.