About the Project
Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives has strong collections in both gaming culture and LGBTQ history, which includes books with 16th century tarot references to artifacts from 20th century drag performance. In this project, fellows refined their skills in research and primary source analysis, project design, and critical thinking as they created a physical and/or digital games using LGBTQ cultural heritage, moving through four phases: research, development, production, and presentation. Alongside mentors, fellows researched the history of gaming and the variety of gaming systems as well as the LGBTQ history of one geographic location. Students then used this research to develop a rich outline for the type of game they wanted to create and the LGBTQ themes they wanted to incorporate into their game. Using resources within Vanderbilt or within the local community, students then built their game.
Mentors
Sarah Calise; Brenna Bierman
Fellows
Erin Kim; Van Le
Project
In addition to the student created games (including the Clown Game), the fellowship culminated in a final showcase of the games during a library event, where each student presented their game, explained its cultural and historic significance, and played it with campus and community members.