Rome: The Game

Republished from UC Santa Barbara’s The Current:

Imagine exploring the monuments of ancient Rome as a graduate student, excavating at an archaeological site and being tasked with determining if some purportedly ancient artifacts are genuine. If they are, you need to determine whether they should remain at the prestigious Southern California museum where they’re housed or be returned to Italy.

It’s a big job, requiring multiple levels of research and decision-making, with intrigue and false steps dogging you along the way. A little daunting? Maybe, but don’t worry: You’ll never even have to leave home to get it done.

That’s because the mission will be entirely online, an interactive game created by two UC Santa Barbara scholars who want to give undergraduate students a real taste of what it’s like to do deep, hands-on research to solve an intellectual mystery.

Claudia Moser, an associate professor in the university’s Department of History of Art & Architecture, and Christian Thomas, a lecturer in the campus’s Writing Program, are making “Rome: The Game” a reality with the help of a $94,000 grant from UC Santa Barbara’s Innovative Learning Technology Initiative.

Article: https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2019/019594/facts-romana/