Biosketch: Dr. Adam Chapman

Adam Chapman obtained a PhD in media, culture and society in 2013. Before this his background was in history (BA Hons) and cultural history (MA). Since 2014 he has held a position at the University of Gothenburg as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Education, Communication and Learning. Though interested in many aspects of games, popular history, collective memory and learning, Adam's main research focus is on historical games, i.e. games that represent the past.

Given that these games are some of the most widespread popular histories of recent years, he is interested in questions about what it means for history to be told through this new medium. By investigating how the game form shapes historical content, he looks at both the opportunities and limitations that digital games offer as a historical form. He has done this by weaving existing historical theory and analysis, with game-focused research that acknowledges the unique qualities of games and play, as well as, more recently, Gibsonian psychology and Goffman’s frame analysis. Accordingly, Adam approaches historical videogames from a perspective that includes understanding both action/agency and narrative/representation and the interplays between these aspects.

As well as currently writing pieces on the representation of WWI in games and the pressures of the game form on historical representation, Adam is working under contract with Routledge on developing his book Digital Games as History, which will be published in 2016.

Recent Publications

Linderoth, J. & Chapman, A. (Forthcoming 2015). Exploring the limits of play: A case study of representations of Nazism in games. In T.E. Mortensen & J. Linderoth (Eds.), Dark play: Difficult content in playful environments. Routledge.

Chapman, A. (2014). The history beyond the frame: Off-screen space in historical strategy games. In T. Winnerling & F. Kerschbaumer (Eds.), Frühe neuzeit und computerspiele. Bielefeld: Transcript, 87-115.

Chapman, A. (2014). The history beyond the frame: Off-screen space in the historical first-person shooter. In T. Winnerling & F. Kerschbaumer (Eds.), Early modernity and video games. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 38-51.

Chapman, A. (2013). Affording history: Civilization and the ecological approach. In A. Elliot & M. Kappell (Eds.), Playing with the past: Digital games and the simulation of history (pp. 61-73). London: Bloomsbury.

Chapman, A. (2013). The Great game of history: An analytical approach to and analysis of, the videogame as a historical form. PhD Thesis. Department of film studies, University of Hull.

Chapman, A. (2013). Is Sid Meier's Civilization History? Rethinking History 17 (3), 312-332.

Chapman, A. (2012). Privileging form over content: Analysing historical videogames. Journal of Digital Humanities, 1, (2).

Chapman, A. (2010). A playful past: The videogame as historical narrative. In A. Mihalache & S. M. Barutcieff (Eds.), De la fictiv la Real. Imaginea, imaginarul, imagologia (pp. 457-482). Iasi: Editura Universitatii ‘Alexandru Ioan Cuza’.