HIDK00017U Meaningful Play: Ancient Board Games in Context
BA-program in Asian Studies with specialisations in
Indology, Japanese Studies, China Studies, Korean Studies,
Southeast Asian Studies and Tibetology, The 2015 Curriculum
BA-programme in Asian Studies with specialisations in
Indology, Japanese Studies, China Studies, Korean Studies,
Southeast Asian Studies and Tibetology, The 2010 Curriculum
Elective Studies in Indology The 2007 Curriculum
Master´s Programme in Asianstudies The 2008
Curriculum
Many traditional board games, such as Chess, Ludo, Backgammon, Kalaha, and Merels, have long and complicated histories crossing and recrossing the boundaries between the secular and the religious, the educational and the entertaining. Abstract and childish as they may appear to us today, they once conveyed ideas far beyond the mere rolling of dice and moving of pawns. The ancient Egyptian games of Mehen and Senet were associated with the passage from death to afterlife, the Mesopotamian Game of 20 Squares doubled as a divination device, the Persian game of Nard simulated the movement of celestial bodies in the sky, early Indian 4-player dice chess taught statecraft to kings and their counsellors, and a distant Chinese predecessor to the modern children's game Snakes & Ladders were used to prepare prospective bureaucrats for a career in the civil service during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE).
This course introduces students to the empirical and theoretical basis of the emerging field of board game studies. It operates within the typological framework first laid down by H. J. R. Murray in A History of Board Games Other Than Chess (Oxford, 1952), while at the same time expanding upon it by situating the games in specific historical and cultural contexts and enquiring about their meaning. Just as words and images are the primary means of communication in literature and painting, so game mechanics are the primary means of communication in games. Only by playing them can we begin to understand not only what they mean, but also how they mean it.
The end of the course coincides with the 20th International Board Game Studies Colloquium (http://bgs20.tors.ku.dk/) which will take place on May 17-20, 2017, in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Students are invited to sign up as volunteers or register as participants.
BA 2015-studieordning:
Indologi realia 1 (fagelementkode HIDB00831E)
BA 2010-ordning:
Indologisk Realia 1 (fagelementkode HIDB00671E)
Indologisk Realia 2 (fagelementkode HIDB00731E)
Indologisk Realia 3 (fagelementkode HIDB00761E)
BA tilvalg 2007-ordning:
Indologisk Realia A (fagelementkode HIDB10041E)
Indologisk Realia B (fagelementkode HIDB10051E)
KA 2008-ordning:
Tekstbaset emne (fagelementkode HIDK03031E)
Emne Kursus A (fagelementkode HIDK03041E)
Emne Kursus B (fagelementkode HIDKO3091E)
Readings will be made available in Absalon. Games will be made available in class.
Recommended pre-course reading:
Caillois, Roger (2001[1961]) Man, Play and Games. Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Available at: http://townsendgroups.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/roger-caillois-man-play-and-games-1.pdf
- Huizinga, Johan (1949[1944]) Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. London, Boston and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Available at http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/1474/homo_ludens_johan_huizinga_routledge_1949_.pdf
Recommended pre-course playing:
Alinement and configuration games: Tic-Tac-Toe, Nine Men's Morris, Solitaire
War games: Chess, Checkers
Hunt games: Fox and Geese, Hnefatafl
Race games: Ludo, Snakes & Ladders
Mancala games: Kalaha
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 56
- Preparation
- 356,5
- Total
- 412,5
Kandidattilvalg for studerende på Humaniora skal tilmeldes via selvbetjeningen. Læs mere på din uddannelsesside på KUnet.dk.
For studerende fra andre fakulteter/universiteter:
http://hum.ku.dk/uddannelser/vejledning/merit/
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Other
Criteria for exam assesment
Curriculum in Danish:
http://hum.ku.dk/uddannelser/aktuelle_studieordninger/indologi/
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- HIDK00017U
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Level
- BachelorBachelor choice,Full Degree Master,Full Degree Master choice
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Spring
- Schedule
- See link below
- Continuing and further education
- Price
Kun for studerende ved Åbent Universitet
Læs mere om pris her
Læs mere om tilmelding her- Study board
- Study Board of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
Contracting department
- Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
Course responsibles
- Jacob Schmidt-Madsen (6-6974653b3538426a776f306d7730666d)
Lecturers
Jacob Schmidt-Madsen: j.schmidt@hum.ku.dk