Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Since its beginnings, the field of video game development has been closely confined to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) arena, often brushing aside any notion that humanities education can be of value. However, the humanities share a powerful and mutually beneficial connection with game development through game narrative, world-building, characterization, musical scoring, and top-quality art. Questions of race, class, and gender, so common in the humanities classroom, are of vital importance to game developers striving to create unique games, helping them explore the nuanced and often controversial perspectives and moral dilemmas that man has grappled with for millennia. Based on our experience teaching humanities courses in a heavily STEM school, this focused discussion will address the inseparable connection that traditional humanities have with modern video game development.