Alumna Dr. Anne Ladyem McDivitt showcased her research in a solo panel at the 2019 Super MAGFest, an annual event celebrating video games and video game music. McDivitt, along with other video game historians, presented at the event’s Music and Gaming Education Symposium.
McDivitt’s presentation focused on the popularity of the game Pac-Man with women in the early 1980s. She argued that this popularity quickly led to heightened engagement with the game industry by women. McDivitt argued that this engagement, in turn, led to more games created which were marketed towards women. She also discussed the resistance many women experienced to their heightened participation in the gaming world.
“I discuss the pushback that women got for creating and playing games, including lack of recognition for accomplishments and questions of the reputation of women who played games that weren’t Pac-Man or ‘cutesy,’” McDivitt notes. View a recording her panel here.
She also notes the unique opportunity to talk about the history of gaming with other game historians as well as lay gamers. “I was able to talk to academics and gamers alike about the history of gaming in the same setting, which is quite rare,” she notes.
McDivitt received her B.A. in history from UCF in 2010 and her M.A. in history from UCF in 2013. She later received her Ph.D. in U.S. history from George Mason University in 2018. She now serves as the Digital Humanities Librarian/Assistant Professor for the Alabama Digital Humanities Center at the University of Alabama.
“What this means in real terms is that I consult with faculty and graduate students about projects they’re interested in creating for pedagogical or research purposes, and I help them make that project a reality by offering guidance on DH tools and methodologies,” she notes.
McDivitt will oversee Digitorium, the Digital Humanities Conference hosted by the University of Alabama. Digitorium will take place October 10-12, 2019 with a call for papers ending March 31, 2019.