> In this session, we'll build on your Git basics by looking at a current Digital History project, [*Lives in Transit*](https://livesintransit.org), and the underlying digital infrastructure that makes the project possible. We'll play the game, and share our experience as players. The fun really begins, however, when we undertake a critical reflection on *gamification* as a nascent means of research, pedagogy and knowledge dissemination in the context of digital history.
> The aim of introducing you to LiT is to give you a sense of (i) how major IT projects are constructed and managed, often with some difficulty, and (ii) to expose you to one way of writing historical research which you might want to adopt yourselves as part of your first semester assignment.
## *Lives in Transit*
*Lives in Transit* is a modern, browser-based interpretation of text-adventure gaming. The game engine, its website, and each game's content are all kept under version control using various Git repositories. Martin—erm, Prof. Dusinberre—will introduce the *Lives in Transit* project, as well as *Plantation Lives*, an almost-finished game built using the system, in which the player takes on the identity of a graduate history student attempting to write a dissertation on transpacific labour history while navigating the perils of academic life.
> This week we'll be addressing the idea that it is possible to gather all the data necessary for global history into a single database. That database is the [*Seshat Global History Database*](http://seshatdatabank.info) project. In order to discuss this project, and to hone your by now magnificent GitLab skills, we shall be asking you to joint-author two position papers, which you'll edit and submit via Git.
> In this session, we'll build on your Git basics by looking at a current Digital History project, [*Lives in Transit*](https://livesintransit.org), and the underlying digital infrastructure that makes the project possible. We'll play the game, and share our experience as players. The fun really begins, however, when we undertake a critical reflection on *gamification* as a nascent means of research, pedagogy and knowledge dissemination in the context of digital history.
## *Seshat*
(in their own words) Seshat: Global History Databank was founded in 2011 to bring together the most current and comprehensive body of knowledge about human history in one place. The huge potential of this knowledge for testing theories about political and economic development has been largely untapped. Our unique Databank systematically collects what is currently known about the social and political organization of human societies and how civilizations have evolved over time. This massive collection of historical information allows us and others to rigorously test different hypotheses about the rise and fall of large-scale societies across the globe and human history.
> The aim of introducing you to LiT is to give you a sense of (i) how major IT projects are constructed and managed, often with some difficulty, and (ii) to expose you to one way of writing historical research which you might want to adopt yourselves as part of your first semester assignment.
## *Lives in Transit*
*Lives in Transit* is a modern, browser-based interpretation of text-adventure gaming. The game engine, its website, and each game's content are all kept under version control using various Git repositories. Martin—erm, Prof. Dusinberre—will introduce the *Lives in Transit* project, as well as *Plantation Lives*, an almost-finished game built using the system, in which the player takes on the identity of a graduate history student attempting to write a dissertation on transpacific labour history while navigating the perils of academic life.
## Links
* For an introduction and overview by the Seshat authors, see: Pieter Francois et al, [“A Macroscope for Global History: Seshat Global History Database, a methodological overview”](http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/10/4/000272/000272.html), *Digital Humanities Quarterly* 10, 4 (2016)
* For recent coverage in the media, see: *The Guardian*, [“History as a giant data set: how analyzing the past could help save the future,”](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/12/history-as-a-giant-data-set-how-analysing-the-past-could-help-save-the-future) 12 November 2019
* For a critical view of what "data" actually is, see Johanna Drucker, [“Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display,”](http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/5/1/000091/000091.html)*Digital Humanities Quarterly* 5, 1 (2011)
> This week we'll be addressing the idea that it is possible to gather all the data necessary for global history into a single database. That database is the [*Seshat Global History Database*](http://seshatdatabank.info) project. In order to discuss this project, and to hone your by now magnificent GitLab skills, we shall be asking you to joint-author two position papers, which you'll edit and submit via Git.
## *Seshat*
(in their own words) Seshat: Global History Databank was founded in 2011 to bring together the most current and comprehensive body of knowledge about human history in one place. The huge potential of this knowledge for testing theories about political and economic development has been largely untapped. Our unique Databank systematically collects what is currently known about the social and political organization of human societies and how civilizations have evolved over time. This massive collection of historical information allows us and others to rigorously test different hypotheses about the rise and fall of large-scale societies across the globe and human history.
## Links
* For an introduction and overview by the Seshat authors, see: Pieter Francois et al, [“A Macroscope for Global History: Seshat Global History Database, a methodological overview”](http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/10/4/000272/000272.html), *Digital Humanities Quarterly* 10, 4 (2016)
* For recent coverage in the media, see: *The Guardian*, [“History as a giant data set: how analyzing the past could help save the future,”](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/12/history-as-a-giant-data-set-how-analysing-the-past-could-help-save-the-future) 12 November 2019
* For a critical view of what "data" actually is, see Johanna Drucker, [“Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display,”](http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/5/1/000091/000091.html)*Digital Humanities Quarterly* 5, 1 (2011)
