October has been a busy month with teaching and the new term – I’ve had a ton of guest lectures on top of teaching Art in the Age of the Great Caliphs.
In other news, yesterday I was recording an interview for an upcoming History-focused podcast, which I’ll be writing more about soon.
However the main project that I want to update you on and that is occupying my time is the Digital Lab, including new developments in my longstanding Digital Munya research. Maxime Durand, a longtime historian on the Assassin’s Creed franchise, is my collaborator on this project as well. We started working with the student game dev team back in May (having been planning for even longer) and as of our last meeting this month the project is moving forward in an exciting way.
What are we doing?
We’re co-creating the concept for a new video game set in 10th century Córdoba, this time focusing on stories and characters associated with munyas (villas), to bring this art and history to wider audiences.
We’re working on this alongside my Digital Lab team leads Dara, Sarah, and Deniz, who worked with us on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, AND a new group of students that we selected especially for this project.
Check out the Digital Lab’s post about Digital Munya 3 on LinkedIn for more details…
And if you want to hear more from me, including about my work in the Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections, I invite you to join my free community list via the form at the bottom of the page.
I don’t send tons of emails – my messages to my lists have been quite infrequent this year because frankly, after these last years of working very hard to get my new book out, while simultaneously working on Assassin’s Creed Mirage and all the other video games, learning experiences, and projects we’ve had going on in the Digital Lab – and keeping up with a full time academic job – friends, I am TIRED – and I’m re-learning how to prioritise my health and rest.
So if you’re feeling like that too – let me say that you’re not alone! Let’s hang in there…
If I’m going to continue to do the work that I’m trying to do in the world I’m realising rest is key, and I’m actively pulling back, slowing down, and taking time off/away as necessary.
So here’s the thought I’d like to leave you with this month. Let’s slow down, take time we need to take care of ourselves, our loved ones, and what’s really important … whatever that may be for you.
Fuel for a busy October day in Edinburgh!
