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Among the many shifts within public archaeology and heritage during recent years is an endeavour to find new methods of engagement which has been broadly undertaken within the field. This thesis suggests one such method could be found in the use of Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs). It does so by examining the current issues in public archaeology and how an intersection between archaeology and game studies could be applied. This includes the importance of empathy and roleplaying in understanding of the past and how this could be applied to the field of public archaeology. / Under de senaste åren har det funnits en strävan av att hitta nya metoder för att presentera och engagera människor för arkeologi och kulturarv. I den här uppsatsen har en sådan metod i form av brädspel som inkluderar rollspel (TTRPGs) presenterats och analyserats. I uppsatsen tas aktuella frågor inom publik arkeologi upp och hur interaktionen mellan arkeologi och spelstudier skulle kunna tillämpas och bidra till att engagera människor i arkeologi och kulturarv.  Studien inkluderar betydelsen av empati och rollspel och hur detta skulle kunna appliceras inom området publik arkeologi.

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ABSTRACT Online virtual worlds provide a unique environment for language instruction and learning, yet there are few longitudinal studies that chronicle the workings of existing communities on avatar-based graphical platforms. This study focuses on Cypris Chat, a nonprofit English learning and teaching group within Linden Lab’s Second Life. In this study, I discuss the structure of this community, the factors behind this group’s development from five members in 2008 to 882 in 2016, and the reasons for its appeal as a virtual world language learning group. I also examine the ways in which teaching and learning take place there. Although the study is primarily descriptive and ethnographic, it also makes use of three theoretical frameworks to analyze different aspects of the group. The digital habitats framework of Wenger, White, and Smith (2009) was used to judge Cypris’ efficacy as a working online community. Lim’s (2009) Six Learnings framework was utilized to explore how adequately the group made use of affordances specific to learning opportunities in virtual worlds. Finally, Holzman’s (2010) interpretation of sociocultural learning theory was used to analyze recorded discourse of formal and informal language learning activities. Data were collected through interviews of 21 Cypris staff and members; a majority of participants were adults of Japanese nationality, but members from Europe and the Middle East also participated. Participant observation and my personal experiences with Cypris’ history were also utilized, both to inform the development of interview questions and to determine the long-lasting appeal of the group; observations drew on my eight years experience as resident researcher and volunteer tutor at Cypris. Finally, disparate learning activities, both formal lessons and informal impromptu interactions during extracurricular conversations and games, were recorded, and select incidents were analyzed through discourse analysis. Results suggest that members’ perception of the importance of both formal activities and informal socializing outside of class was crucial to the continued existence of the group. Additionally, they also suggest that the group’s long-lasting appeal is related to the adventurous spirit of key members identified as Internet early adopters. As for teaching and learning within the community, observations indicated that tutors and learners alike took advantage of both traditional instructional methods and the unique affordances of the Second Life environment, both within and outside formal instruction at Cypris. Conclusions suggest that both Wenger et al.’s (2009) digital habitats and Lim’s (2009) Six Learnings frameworks are robust measures of online learning communities, and Holzman’s (2010) interpretation of sociocultural learning theory was shown to be applicable to both exploration of learning through play and informal interactions as well as more structured lessons in online virtual world learning groups like Cypris. This study contributes to the body of research on models of online language education, multimodal learning in virtual worlds, and the potentially revolutionary possibilities and challenges inherent in language learning communities such as Cypris. / Applied Linguistics

New mass media impact on the nature of public communication and the use and gratification of existing mass media because each new medium is used and experienced differently. As a new mass medium, the Internet offers different forms of communication, such as Internet Relay Chat, Multi-User Dungeons and chatrooms. It has also combined traditional mass media, namely print, radio and television, into a single powerful medium. Due to the fact that the Internet is still an emerging medium, its long-term effects on the nature of public communication and traditional mass media warrants ongoing investigation. The first part (Part A) of this dissertation situates the Internet chronologically within the development of traditional mass media and their impact on public communication. Part B investigates Internet use among a group of professionals in South Africa. The objective is to identify how they use the Internet and the gratification they derive from it. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

This dissertation presents a framework which supports a group-based exploratory approach to learning and integrates 3D gaming methods and technologies with an institutional learning environment. This provides learners with anytime-anywhere access to interactive learning materials, thereby supporting a self paced and personalised approach to learning. A simulation environment based on real world data has been developed, with a computer games methodology adopted as the means by which users are able to progress through the system. Within a virtual setting users, or groups of users, are faced with a series of dynamic challenges with which they engage until such time as they have shown a certain level of competence. Once a series of domain specific objectives have been met, users are able to progress forward to the next level of the simulation. Through the use of Internet and 3D visualisation technologies, an excavation simulator has been developed which provides the opportunity for students to engage in a virtual excavation project, applying their knowledge and reflecting on the outcomes of their decisions. The excavation simulator enhances the student learning experience by providing opportunities for students to engage with the archaeological excavation process in a customisable, virtual environment. Not only does this provide students with an opportunity to put some of the theories they are familiar with into practice, but it also allows for archaeology courses to place a greater emphasis on the practical application of knowledge that occurs during the excavation process. Laconia Acropolis Virtual Archaeology (LAVA) is a co-operative exploratory learning environment that addresses the need for students to engage with archaeological excavation scenarios. By leveraging the immersive nature of gaming technologies and 3D multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), LAVA facilitates the adoption of exploratory learning practices in environments which have previously been inaccessible due to barriers of space, time or cost.

Thèse réalisée en cotutelle avec l'université Paris1-Sorbonne / Les mondes virtuels multi-joueurs sont des jeux à trois dimensions. Leurs utilisateurs s’adonnent depuis plusieurs années à plusieurs activités en se transférant des objets virtuels créés ou achetés dans les mondes virtuels dont ils revendiquent la propriété. Ces objets appelés « biens virtuels » n’ont d’existence qu’en ligne et peuvent prendre n’importe quelle forme (avatars, vaisseaux spatiaux, etc.). Bien que le marché des transactions de biens virtuels représente un important impact économique, social et juridique sur l’ensemble de la consommation, ces « biens » ne sont pourtant pas juridiquement reconnus, ni protégés par la loi ou par la jurisprudence en Amérique du Nord et en Europe, seuls les contrats de licence rédigés par les développeurs régissent leurs utilisations. Or, les conflits dans ce domaine peuvent devenir très complexes, car les rencontres virtuelles donnent lieu à une grande variété d’activités et sont créatrices de liens de droit entre des internautes qui peuvent se trouver physiquement à l’autre bout de la planète pour se rencontrer virtuellement dans l’environnement du cyberespace. Ainsi, les effets dommageables de ces activités vont se manifester en dehors du réseau. Puisque dans ces cas, l’espace virtuel et l'espace matériel sont interconnectés, on se pose la question suivante : quelle est la loi applicable aux transferts de « biens virtuels »? Pour traiter d’une question litigieuse en droit international privé, il faut passer par l’étape préalable de la qualification juridique de l’objet du litige, ici les biens virtuels, afin d’être en mesure de le rattacher à un régime juridique et à la règle de conflit applicable selon ce régime. Les biens virtuels, immatériels par essence, n’existent pas réellement. Techniquement parlant ce sont des représentations graphiques de codes sources enregistrés dans le logiciel du monde virtuel. Ainsi, l’existence juridique de l’objet virtuel en tant que « bien » est controversée en droit civil, car elle dépend de la conception stricte (traditionnelle) ou élargie (moderne) que l’on adopte du droit de propriété. En admettant que les biens virtuels soient reconnus en droit des biens, les règles de conflits de lois applicables à cette matière portent beaucoup d’importance sur la situation matérielle du bien pour la localisation du rapport de droits, ce qui rend très difficile la recherche de solution des conflits de lois dans notre matière. Ainsi, l’application du principe de l’autonomie tend à s’élargir aux questions de droits réels, mais cette solution n’est pas satisfaisante pour les tiers. Dès lors, il convient de se rallier à la doctrine contemporaine qui critique la référence générale à la règle de rattachement localisatrice dans des situations nouvelles et spécifiques empreintes de difficultés de localisation afin d’appliquer préférablement le régime de propriété intellectuelle, adoptée spécifiquement pour les biens immatériels. L’application de la loi sur les droits d’auteur est plus adaptée aux biens virtuels en tant qu’œuvre de l’esprit, parce que les droits ne se trouvent pas limités par l’inexistence de cet objet et parce que les règles de conflits propres au droit d’auteur d’origine conventionnelle permettent une protection internationale du droit d’auteur. / Multi-player virtual worlds are three-dimensional games. Over the past few years, players have been engaging in various activities involving the transfer of virtual objects that they have themselves created or purchased in these virtual worlds and over which they claim ownership. The objects, called “virtual goods”, exist only in the online world and may take any number of forms (e.g. avatars, space ships, etc.). Although the market for virtual property has important economic, social and legal impacts on consumption, these “goods” are neither recognized by the law, nor protected by North American or European legislation or jurisprudence; only the licensing contracts drafted by the developers regulate their uses. However, conflicts that arise in this domain may grow very complex since virtual interactions give rise to a great variety of activities and create legal relationships between the cybernauts who meet in the virtual environment of cyberspace although they may be physically located on either ends of the planet. Thus, the adverse effects of these activities may manifest themselves outside of the cyber environment. Since the virtual world and the physical world are interconnected in these cases, we have to ask the following question: what law should apply to the transfer of the “virtual goods”? In order to answer contentious questions that arise under private international law, one must first go through the initial step of juridically qualifying the objects in question, here the virtual goods, in order to be able to assign them to a specific legal regime and to the specific conflict of laws rules that apply under that regime. Virtual goods – inherently immaterial – do not really exist: they are graphic representations of source code embedded in the software of the virtual world. Thus, the legal characterization of the virtual objects as “property” is controversial under civil law because it depends on whether one adopts a strict (traditional) concept of property law or a more expansive (modern) concept. Even if virtual goods were to be recognized under property law, since the conflict of laws rules applicable to property law place a lot of importance on the physical location of the property in order to determine the legal attachment, this renders the search for a solution to the conflict of laws in this area very difficult. Application of the principle of contractual autonomy therefore provides greater scope in determining property rights, but this solution may not be satisfactory to third parties. Thus, it is useful to turn to the contemporary doctrine that criticizes the general application of the rule of physical attachment to particular and novel contexts that present difficulties in determining the location of the property and instead applies the intellectual property regime which is specifically designed to deal with incorporeal goods. Copyright law is better suited to virtual goods as creations of the mind since its application is not hampered by the non-existence of the goods and because the conflict of laws rules applicable to traditional copyright law provide international protection for copyrights.