Course Schedule
Fall 2026
PAH
PAH 332 – Tabletop Games: Play, Culture, and Design of Board and Role-Playing Games
Gen Ed Attribute: Writing · Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Humanist
This course explores how tabletop and board games both reflect and influence the cultures they arise from. We begin the course by examining some of the earliest tabletop games and how they relate to the cultures from which they emerged. From this foundation, we then explore how modern tabletop games employ aesthetics, rules and mechanics to represent and shape relationships between players, as well as allowing players to take on different identities and master new skills. Throughout the course, we pay close attention to how game design choices communicate cultural values, histories, and beliefs and how we might redesign games to create new possibilities for players.
This course explores how tabletop and board games both reflect and influence the cultures they arise from. We begin the course by examining some of the earliest tabletop games and how they relate to the cultures from which they emerged. From this foundation, we then explore how modern tabletop games employ aesthetics, rules and mechanics to represent and shape relationships between players, as well as allowing players to take on different identities and master new skills. Throughout the course, we pay close attention to how game design choices communicate cultural values, histories, and beliefs and how we might redesign games to create new possibilities for players.
Section
101
Days
Time
Date
Aug 24 - Oct 14
Instructor
Status
Open
Enrollment
0 / 50
- +
- Section: 101
- Instructor: Zimmerman, Joshua J
- Days:
- Time:
- Dates: Aug 24 - Oct 14
- Status: Open
- Enrollment: 0 / 50
Section
201
Days
Time
Date
Aug 24 - Oct 14
Instructor
Status
Open
Enrollment
0 / 50
- +
- Section: 201
- Instructor: Zimmerman, Joshua J
- Days:
- Time:
- Dates: Aug 24 - Oct 14
- Status: Open
- Enrollment: 0 / 50