UT Antiquities Action invites you to join us for "The White Banner: Digital Gaming as a Community Heritage Recover Strategy," a presentation by and discussion with Dr. Stephennie Mulder on the representation of Syrian heritage sites in digital gaming contexts.
This project explores the creation of a handheld digital game based on the 1998-2010 excavation of an early Islamic palatial mansion in Syria by a Syrian-American team. In 2015, the area of the site was damaged and looted by the militant group ISIS. The game, titled The White Banner, was created as a demo in the summer of 2024, and was collaboratively produced by a UT Austin student and faculty team in consultation with Syrian colleagues, many of whom worked for years at the site and who have deep, affective relationships to the area and its heritage. This presentation explores the possibilities and limitations of this ongoing project.
Stephennie Mulder is Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a specialist in Islamic art, architectural history, and archaeology. She has conducted archaeological and art historical fieldwork in Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and elsewhere in the region.