Cultural History of Play

Ulrich Schädler, classical archaeologist, game historian and former director of Le Musée Suisse du Jeu, will give an overview of the cultural history of games and play and will talk about the reconstruction of historical games in the context of international research projects focussing on games as a social activity. Schädler’s material-based approach to the cultural history of play includes studies on ancient games, chess and card games, questions about the relationship between play and the bourgeoisie (together with Ernst Strouhal) and medieval games.