Bucknell University, as part of the core curriculum for students in the College of Arts & Sciences, requires that students take an “Integrated Perspectives” (IP) course. IPs are co-taught by two faculty members from different departments. Working with a history colleague, we are designing a course, “Assassins, Gods, and Princes: History and Music of Popular Music Video Games.”

In brief, we will look at several games, including Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Hades, Prince of Persia, and Ghost of Tsushima. My colleague will pull out relevant historical features, and I will facilitate exploration of the music.

From the musical perspective, we will practice “ludomusicological thinking.” Students will complete musical analyses, completed in part through soundmaps, then explore relationships between these musical analyses with works from psychology, sociology, philosophy, among other fields. For example, students will read about Flow and using their musical analyses, explore the features of music that support or enhance the experience of flow when playing video games.

I think it is going to be super neat, and I think the students are going to have a great time, too!