Minecraft slavery plantation programme for classrooms

Historians at the University of Glasgow will today (Monday 16 October 2017) officially launch a computer representation of 18th century plantations in Minecraft to help school children engage with the history of slavery. The idea behind the new teaching programme is to provide history teachers and pupils with a novel way of exploring this period, incorporating the multi-million selling game Minecraft. Nelson Mundell, former teacher and now a historian at the University of Glasgow, and creator of the Minecraft slavery plantation programme, said: "The aim of the project is to provide school pupils with a mental image of what a plantation could have looked like. This, supplemented with the lesson materials we are providing, will hopefully complement their learning from the classroom and help their understanding of the Transatlantic Slave Trade." The Minecraft slavery plantation programme allows pupils to explore the fictitious 18th Century Caribbean island of Saint Lauretia, where they can walk around three different plantations, wander inside the mansions and the huts, examine conditions aboard the cramped slave ships, and read extracts from historical figures from the Atlantic Slave Trade. "Millions of children across the world spend their days creating, exploring and learning in virtual Minecraft worlds, and I wanted to harness that enthusiasm and bring it into the classroom.