Skyrim - Rice University Offers Course on Skyrim

Skyrim hit the west like a thu'um, and it made a huge impact here in America, where I live. But why was it so huge? Rice University attempts to examine that in a new course.

In a fantastic refutation of the snobby derisiveness most of academia levels at video games, Professor Donna Ellard is offering a course in Skyrim to her students at Rice University. It isn’t a development or game design class, either. “Scandinavian Fantasy Worlds: Old Norse Sagas and Skyrim,” which first hit the course catalogue in 2012, is interdisciplinary but leans towards the humanities–students play the game, of course, but they also read Norse mythology and Freudian psychoanalysis to try and determine why Skyrim holds such appeal for American audiences. “We have no historical relationship to the British mediaeval past, and, even further afield than that, we’ve got no cultural kinship with Scandinavia…so the class is really interrogating why we have such strong cathexis to a medieval period that is not our own and also to a medieval period that is markedly Viking,” Ellard told the New Statesman.

Professor Ellard believes that connections can be drawn between the setting of Skyrim and the current state of American politics–not the jazzy fantasy bits where the dragons are returning, but the tensions between empires and their unhappy subjects. “[Skyrim] comes in a world post-9/11. [This] was a moment in which the US started to realise it was an empire on the rocks and its popularity through the beginning of the 2000s very much corresponded both to its insecurities as a nation and as an empire that recognised itself as no longer the tour de force that it thought it was,” said Ellard.

Odds are, most Americans bought the game so that they could hack wizards to death with a battle axe, and that’s fine. Ellard does have a point, though: the stories that a culture chooses to tell are good indicators for what that culture cares about. So for America, that’s the murky morality of an imperial system of government, and dragons. Sounds about right.

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Doesn't sound like a sound analysis. The story doesn't seem to be what attracts people and the viking influences are light. Rather it is the freedom, the medieval fantasy world and high production values including modding possibilities. Also the rest of the world was also playing the same game, not only americans. Sometimes I think universities should become more restricted in their courses yet again.

Problem with Freudian psychoanalysis is that Freud was a psycho pervert(using this word over the current famous P-word, which applies to him a lot better) and a cocaine addict, thus his whole delusional treatment only created countless problems and sufferings throughout its application. Look into why Jung developed his own system.

cocaine addict? When I grow up, I want to be Freud.

“[Skyrim] comes in a world post-9/11. [This] was a moment in which the US started to realise it was an empire on the rocks and its popularity through the beginning of the 2000s very much corresponded both to its insecurities as a nation and as an empire that recognised itself as no longer the tour de force that it thought it was,” said Ellard.

This is a highly Euro-centric view of America, rather than representing how Americans view themselves. Most Americans don't care whether we're an empire or not--and I suspect many don't want us to be. I don't think we're particularly insecure as a nation either. Has Ellard ever come to visit the U.S., and while doing so has she ever traveled outside scholarly leftist circles? It doesn't sound like that's the case.

Originally Posted by rjshae
This is a highly Euro-centric view of America

Eurocentric view of America is seeing overall deliberate ignorance and importing brains.
Political system? Who in europe cares for that crap today really, any system can hold economy power (China example) or can produce terrorists (errrr…).

So, no. It's not eurocentric view there, sorry.

Originally Posted by rjshae
Has Ellard ever come to visit the U.S., and while doing so has she ever traveled outside scholarly leftist circles? It doesn't sound like that's the case.

…Rice University is in Houston, Texas. And Professor Ellard has a Ph.D from the University of California, so I suspect she is in fact…American. Just saying. Stop blaming us.

I think the whole Skyrim thesis is absolute rubbish though, I don't think it's popularity has anything to do with what the Professor claims.

Skyrim has a story ?

Originally Posted by tomasp3n
…Rice University is in Houston, Texas. And Professor Ellard has a Ph.D from the University of California, so I suspect she is in fact…American. Just saying. Stop blaming us.

I think the whole Skyrim thesis is absolute rubbish though, I don't think it's popularity has anything to do with what the Professor claims.

Ah, well, it sounded like something that European intellectuals would come up with… But we have our share of such, I guess.

Personally I haven't found Skyrim all that compelling. I've tried it three times now and it just hasn't held my interest past about 10th level. It's visually very pleasing.

Freud is alleged to have said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." So, too, sometimes a game is just a game with no psychological or political significance. It's merely an escape for a few hours from your humdrum life and workday where you can be someone else doing things that are impossible in a modern technological society.

And please can the 'lefty' political digs. If you want to play that game, there is plenty of mindless crap from the right that merits criticism, too. This is a game forum, not a political forum.

Originally Posted by Zephyr
And please can the 'lefty' political digs. If you want to play that game, there is plenty of mindless crap from the right that merits criticism, too. This is a game forum, not a political forum.

Well, the fact that a socio-cultural viewpoint is being expressed in the news story makes it political, so… no. But otherwise I agree with your statement that "plenty of mindless crap from the right that merits criticism, too". It just didn't seem applicable in this circumstance.

“[Skyrim] comes in a world post-9/11. [This] was a moment in which the US started to realise it was an empire on the rocks and its popularity through the beginning of the 2000s very much corresponded both to its insecurities as a nation and as an empire that recognised itself as no longer the tour de force that it thought it was,” said Ellard.

I translate this as Ellard taking Skyrim (simply a game) and using it as a platform to impose her belief systems through the school system. Skyrim is simply a game and to use it to indoctrinate students is flat out wrong.

The scary part is much of the US educational system is funded by taxpayers. I am certain there is something of far more use to students educationally at Rice University than wasting money to be brainwashed by Ellard.

Here are the fees to go to Rice University:
Entering Fall 14 & Continuing
$1,662.00 hour
$19,940.00 semester
$39,880.00 annual

Do you really want to spend that on a "Skyrim Course"?

Here's the truly sad part: I am enrolled in University of Houston and they charge about $246 dollars per credit hour lol. Same town same education hell of a lot cheaper.

Originally Posted by Zephyr
Freud is alleged to have said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." So, too, sometimes a game is just a game with no psychological or political significance.

And so often, players seek bits of reality in the games they play.

The line is past by now. Games are no longer simple games. Too many players want to relate, to connect, to represent for that to be.

Did you all hear that? That was the sound of the American higher-education system hitting new depths. And here I thought degrees in public relations were ridiculous…

I too question the whole Skyrim- Analysis but you know what? Life is short and I loved playing Skyrim and would rush to register for that class in a hot minute. I would probably learn something I had not previously known. Or at least become familiar with a new point of view. It's all good. Sheez, it's school.

A couple decades ago I took a history of South America class in conjunction with playing Sid Meirs "Pirates". Admittedly, the course had nothing to do with the game but some of the politics in the game kinda corresponded to reality. And taking that course just made the game playing that much funner.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

I think the premise of the class is flawed in the first place and should be reviewed.

But if people are happy to pay £1000 an hour to play a game that costs £30 and then learn a bit about Vikings then all the best to them

Originally Posted by Dajjer
I too question the whole Skyrim- Analysis but you know what? Life is short and I loved playing Skyrim and would rush to register for that class in a hot minute. I would probably learn something I had not previously known. Or at least become familiar with a new point of view. It's all good. Sheez, it's school.

A couple decades ago I took a history of South America class in conjunction with playing Sid Meirs "Pirates". Admittedly, the course had nothing to do with the game but some of the politics in the game kinda corresponded to reality. And taking that course just made the game playing that much funner.

Great response, Dajjer. I love your anecdote about playing Pirates. I had a similar thing while playing Uncharted Waters Online. That game takes place in real-life Europe with accurate locations, politics, economies, etc. I actually learned a bit of geography just playing that game. Great stuff.

I think a Skyrim class is absolutely awesome. If I were in school, I would LOVE to learn about Skyrim! Haha. Sounds fun

While Skyrim's story and dialogues largely leave more to be desired and probably aren't an attempt to make such large philosophical connections, the lore of the Elder Scrolls and the set-up for the story offer much to ponder. I think a more accurate thesis would be to examine how current events and perspectives influence contemporary fiction, whether on a conscience or sub-conscience level, rather than an examination of Skyrim itself.

As for the connection that the professor makes to America, I can see where she is coming from. The Cyrodil Empire is in decline, struggling to hold onto its dominance over the world, and the Empire very much is a fantasy embodiment of the Western World.

For those living in America, there is a very obvious schism and fracturing of unity as well. There is a growing civil war type rhetoric from many U.S. citizens and severe distrust of the government, especially from certain political leanings that strongly feel that the government has failed them. Skyrim's civil war scenario has the Nords bitterly saying things along the lines of "the empire used to represent us, but now they don't. We should take back our lands and form a new government, one that represents us!" Sound familiar?

This also presents a break from the typical "good guys vs. the evil outsiders" story that was far more frequent when America was still in its "golden age" and seen by its citizens in a more positive, patriotic light. In Skyrim, the common accusation is that the "evil" (the dragons returning) was caused by forces within, just as the past decade has seen a rise of inwards suspicion directed at the current power structure.

The Aldmeri Dominion acts as the Empire's "unofficial" spies, despised by just about everyone, including the Imperials. This was written in a time when personal privacy, security, and the controversies about the NSA and other "spying" agencies were reaching a fever-pitch, and that certainly continues today.

Did Bethesda consciously make a story and background lore that was meant to act as a metaphor for the issues of our time period? Probably not. Bethesda has never been the type of developer that strives to have that sort of story-telling depth or awareness. However, I don't think that the similarities to the problems and controversies of our time are just a coincidence. If anything, Skyrim is evidence of how the world around us shapes works of fiction.