Staff promote War Studies and History degrees at SALUTE convention

Dr Fuller said: “Demo-game displays at events such as SALUTE draw attention to the event's sponsor (mostly game and miniatures vendors) and we were really pleased to be represented. The team was the only University present and we demonstrated how studying at Wolverhampton entails a variety of educational experiences and classroom techniques, from gaming and other historical simulations to exciting field-trips.   

“Without a doubt, higher education can be made all the more appealing to target audiences by making subjects interactive, imaginative, and fun as well as informative. 

“Our attendance at the event resulted in a surge of public interest in the University's degree programmes and academic research thanks to the demo-game, specialised University gazebo, video displays, and promotional handout materials. 

“Many ‘respectable’ academics and serious-minded military history scholars are avid wargamers whether they admit it or not; from table-top miniatures to boardgames to videogames.  Myself and some of my colleagues in the Department of History, Politics and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton have been gaming for years as well as incorporating ‘historical simulations’ in our classes.   

“This year, on the occasion of SALUTE’s 50th Anniversary, we wanted to up our game by mixing 19th-century military history with 19th-century fiction.  After all, literature has a way of tweaking reality to make us see things more clearly—or at least get our attention when we perhaps take things for granted.”