FOVOG at Dresden Science Night 2023

On 30 June 2023, the 20th Dresden Science Night took place with the theme "Schlaugemacht bis Mitternacht!" – and the Research Centre for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG) participated with the event „Mönch, ärgere dich nicht. Klöster im Spiel und in modernen Medien“. The event took place in cooperation with the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History and Didactics of History.

The programme was diverse: At 5 p.m., the joint games salon was opened with the project "LIS 2.0. Literaturspiele im Netz" by the Center for Central and Eastern European Studies.

A highlight of the games salon was the roll-up exhibition on monastic culture in modern board games, designed by Lukas Boch and Anna Klara Falke from the "Boardgame Historian" project. The vividly illustrated and very informative roll-ups were a real eye-catcher and informed the visitors about the representation of medieval monastic culture in modern board games. A more general topic was the scientific examination of board games. Other thematic aspects were the representation of monasteries as economic or mysterious places and the gender-specific representation of monks (friendly, drinking beer) and nuns (fighting or healing) in board games.

Furthermore, there was an exhibition of various board games with medieval and/or monastic references. This gave the visitors the opportunity to take a closer look at the game material of games such as "Heaven&Ale", "Ora et Labora" or "Monasterium" and to talk about them.

In a comic corner - in addition to a PowerPoint presentation on monasteries in comics prepared by students - there was an opportunity to sit down and browse through comics a little away from the hustle and bustle of the Science Night. The comics were aimed at both younger (Mosaik, Spuk im Kloster) and older (Francis, Brother of the Universe), and offered a selection in both German and English.

From 6 p.m. onwards, there was an hourly opportunity to take part in one of three game rounds and try out the board games "Der Name de rRose" or "Abtei der Rätsel". The game rounds were very well received, no table remained empty. Afterwards, there was a short evaluation of the game experience and an assessment of the representation of monastic life in games.

In addition to these analogue formats, there was also the possibility to explore the representation of monasteries in digital media by means of two digital games ("Kingdom Come Deliverance" and "Pentiment"). Here, guests were able to explore virtual monasteries and learn about monastic life in conversation - for example, questions about the daily routine in a monastery were answered and architectural comparisons to the St. Gallen monastery plan, which depicts an ideal monastery, were shown.

There was also the opportunity to see the film "Sister Act" at the Kino im Kasten as part of "Klöster im Kino". For this, Mirko Breitenstein provided a scientifically sound introduction to the representation of monasteries in film.