Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom

This chapter addresses the practical application of user modification as a pedagogical method within an undergraduate module and a taught postgraduate module at the University of Winchester. Through a practical example it demonstrates that tabletop games may provide an effective medium for students to explore historical arguments, to interrogate these arguments, and ultimately to create their own counterarguments and debate through the alteration of the game. In doing so, this chapter engages with a diverse range of pedagogical literature and highlights the potential and pitfalls of the approach. In sum, the chapter makes a case for the use of games as educational tools at the highest levels of history study.