Author: Ethan Watrall

Like the previous years, 2012 has been good to us.  We’re now a smidge over 2 years old.  2012 has seen some wonderful articles and equally great conversations.  With the holiday season upon us, Play the Past is going on its annual publishing hiatus.  As with previous years, this is just aContinue Reading

2011 has been good to Play the Past…really good.  We’ve had great articles and great discussions.  And to top it all off, we celebrated our first birthday. With the holiday season upon us, however, Play the Past is going on its annual publishing hiatus.  Don’t fear, we’re just taking aContinue Reading

1 year ago today, Play the Past went live.  It was the culmination of a process which, I’m not afraid to admit, started out with the kind of gluttonous domain registrations binge to which many of us are prone.  Playthepast.org was one of those domains that I was sure I could doContinue Reading

For many of us, the semester has started (or is starting imminently).  Students are flooding back to campus, syllabi have been finalized, first classes are on the horizon, and first official type meetings have been scheduled (or, if you are like me, they’ve never really relented over the summer).  A senseContinue Reading

The term “public archaeology” isn’t particularly well know to those outside of the archaeological community.  So, what is it exactly?  At its core, public archaeology seeks to protect and advocate for archaeological heritage (sites, resources, etc.) through public education, outreach, and engagement. This manifests in lots of different ways.  Archaeologists visiting middle schoolContinue Reading

One month ago (yesterday) Play the Past went live.  It was a project that I had been nursing for some time, and I quite honestly had no idea how it would be received.  I knew that the model of a collaboratively contributed and lightly edited blog worked (based on my involvement withContinue Reading

The semester is winding down, and the Christmahanukwanzaakah is almost upon us.  Assignments have been submitted (and received), last lectures have been delivered (or attended), and (hopefully) grading is nearing completion.  Everyone around the Play the Past offices is looking forward to a much deserved break in which (among many otherContinue Reading

For years, researchers have discussed the educational potential of digital games within learning environments (either formal or informal).  It’s only relatively recently that those discussions have started to bear fruit in the form of robust serious game development and (more importantly) published research.   The problem (at least from the perspectiveContinue Reading

I’m very happy to welcome everyone to the official launch of Play the Past – a project that has been brewing under the radar for longer than I care to admit.  At its core, Play the Past is a collaboratively edited and authored blog dedicated to thoughtfully exploring and discussing the intersection of cultural heritageContinue Reading