Games

A history of board games comes to U of T’s Fisher Library

Romi Levine — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 19:32:52 +0000

A history of board games comes to U of T’s Fisher Library

Romi Levine Wed, 02/15/2017 - 14:32

Cutline

“The new and diverting game of Alice in Wonderland” is on display at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (photos by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

Fisher Library

Games

History

Frigid winter days are a great excuse to stay indoors with good company and a pile of board games.

As you roll the dice, reflect on this: you’re participating in a tradition of game-playing that dates back to ancient Mesopotamia.

This month, the more recent history of board and card games is being explored in an exhibit at the �ؿ�ζSM's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.

Curated by Fisher librarian Chris Young, “Ludos Ludere: Games to Play” looks at the ways games reflect the culture and values of the time they were created.

“One of our mandates with special collections is to try and collect not just a range of diverse cultures in whatever form they come – but also a wide range of printed material,” says Young.

A copy of H.G. Wells's 1911 “Floor Games” about children’s games is on display at the exhibit

While games in different forms have been played for many centuries, board and card games are a relatively recent invention.

“Card games and the books about card games were all made from the 17th century onwards when cards were easy to manufacture cheaply because of the printing press, cheaper paper materials, and mass production of ink and presses,” says Young.

The popularity of gaming rose to the point where even famed authors like H.G. Wells were keen on writing about the pastime. The science fiction novelist published Floor Games in 1911 about various children’s games – a copy of which is on display in the exhibit.

Most of the games on display are no longer played or manufactured but they all have ties to contemporary counterparts, says Young.

“You can see how games people tend to play today are derived from other early genres that may no longer exist.

Here are some of the games to check out at the exhibit:

Lotería: La suerte que habla, 2016

The only contemporary game on display, Loteria is a true reflection of today’s political and cultural landscape.

This modern take on a traditional Mexican game uses a board similar to Bingo with images instead of numbers. A riddle is read out loud, corresponding to a specific image – many of which are ripped right from the headlines.

The money game: how to play it, 1928

It was mere coincidence that this economics-based game was released at a time when the world was in financial turmoil.

The game looks like a book when closed, but it opens into a detailed set of instructions with a number of game pieces.

“You’re trying to gather resources at a cheap cost from other players based on how many of that specific resource they have,” Young says.

Myriorama: a collection of many hundred landscapes, 1824

There’s no winning or losing in this game – players can place the hand-coloured panels in any order they wish.

They are illustrated in a way that no matter what order they are played, the landscape will look complete.

The new and diverting game of Alice in Wonderland, 1898

Forty years after Charles Lutwidge Dodgson a.k.a. Lewis Carroll’s whimsical novel was published, this card game was released.

The aim of the game is to make complete sets of a certain type of card. Illustrations on each card have been adapted from the book’s original art drawn by John Tenniel.

“Cards were easy to be bought, distributed and played in almost any context because they fit in your pocket,” says Young.

#Rio2016: U of T cheers for its Olympic athletes

krisha — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 20:07:40 +0000

#Rio2016: U of T cheers for its Olympic athletes

krisha Fri, 08/05/2016 - 16:07

Cutline

Christine Sinclair #12 of Canada scores their second goal during the match between Canada and Australia womens football for the summer olympics at Arena Corinthians on August 3, 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil (photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)

Arthur Kaptainis

Author legacy

Arthur Kaptainis

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

The excitement started even before the opening ceremonies – with a 2-0 victory by the Canadian women’s soccer team over Australia on the first day of competition.

But which athletes and teams will �ؿ�ζSM students and faculty be cheering for at the 2016 Summer Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro?

“Team Canada, of course,” said Ayesha Ali. A third-year student from University College at the Faculty of Arts & Science, Ali works the welcome desk at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. She likes swimming – where Canadians appear to have good chances – and track and field events of all types.

As a global health major, Ali is less impressed with the measures undertaken by the authorities. The Zika virus threat needs to be taken more seriously, she says.

“They’re telling people to come at their own discretion,” Ali said. “I wouldn’t feel safe going there.

‘The [Brazilian] government could definitely do more to make sure its citizens as well as tourists are protected. And the Olympic organization could have been better prepared.”

Melanie Yu, a Rotman Commerce student who is president of the student-run �ؿ�ζSM Sports and Business Association (UTSB), counts herself among the thousands of U of T people (and perhaps millions of Canadians) with a special affection for 2012 gold medalist Rosie MacLennan – the Kinesiology & Physical Education grad student and two-time trampoline Olympian who was named flag bearer for Canada.

“I can't wait to watch her bring home gold,” Yu said. “Her story is so inspiring and I think she is such a great role model.”

Yu’s favourite sport, however, is basketball. “It's exciting to see the Canadian team back in action again,” she said of the women’s squad from which so much is expected.

“And Canadian pride aside, I'm also looking forward to watching the U.S. basketball teams – both men and women – as they have many superstars on both teams.”

To say Dr. Doug Richards, medical director of David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic, is a supporter of the Canadian women’s basketball team is putting it mildly. This associate professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE) was the team physician from 1987 until after the London Olympics of 2012.

Richards has treated the five newcomers to the basketball team as well as the seven veterans of 2012. “They are legitimate medal contenders,” he says.

Richards also likes the chances of the Canadian Beach Volleyball teams. Again, his opinion has some authority, Richards having served as team physician from 1997 to 2014 and knowing well the three U of T alumni on the teams (Heather Bansley, Josh Binstock and Kristina Valjas) who played indoor volleyball for the Varsity Blues.

Richards’s wife, Blues volleyball coach Kristine Drakich, has coached both Bansley and Valjas. His brother-in-law Ed Drakich, a former Blues coach, is the technical director of the Olympic Beach Volleyball event, a role Drakich played also in Beijing, London and in the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.

And as chief medical officer of the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, situated on the �ؿ�ζSM Scarborough campus, he has frequent interaction with swimmers and wheelchair basketball athletes. Both the Canadian men and women wheelchair teams have qualified for Rio Paralympics.

“Of course I will be interested in many of the U of T and KPE alums in other sports,” Richards adds. “Rosie MacLennan, Michelle Li (badminton) and Kylie Masse (swimming) have all been among my students in two undergrad KPE courses. The first two on that list have been my patients. I will be rooting them all along.”

Not all the enthusiasm is confined to Canada. Yu reports that she and many of her UTSB colleagues are fans of the British track and field star Jessica Ennis-Hill, who will be competing in the heptathlon. “She’s overcome various injuries throughout the years and also gave birth in 2014 but is looking to retain the Olympic title,” Yu observes.

Vice-president and principal of U of T Scarborough Bruce Kidd, a former Olympian, says he will be following the fortunes of Dutee Chand (India, 100 metres) and Caster Semanya (South Africa, 800 metres) with special interest. These runners have been the subject of controversy owing to their failure to meet the International Olympic Committee’s former hyperandrogenism regulations – which Chand overturned through an appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“Both women have been vilified in the media and ostracized by some members of the sports community,” says Kidd, a leading figure in the campaign to abolish the Olympic sex test. “They will no doubt face extra pressure in Rio.

“Yet they have persisted, kept their heads high and made the Olympic standard to qualify for Rio. They are such remarkable and courageous women, I will be cheering loudly for them.”

Kidd will also be solidly behind the U of T students and alumni competing in Rio, many of whom he knows personally and has taught. “Such a thoughtful, determined and unassuming champion,” he says of modern pentathlete Donna Vakalis.

As well as Binstock, Li and MacLennan, Kidd mentions Crispin Duenas (archery) and four women from the U of T Track Club: Alicia Brown, Micha Powell, Andrea Seccafien and Gabriela Stafford. “I admire these athletes so much.”

Water quality in Rio has generated some headlines but the more enduring Olympic problem is doping. Richards, who has lectured on the subject in various courses, feels that progress is being made.

“While the recent spat of positive re-tests and scandals emerging from Russia, Kenya, Jamaica and elsewhere could add fuel to a cynic's fire, I am more of a glass-half-full optimistic kind of guy,” he said. “I think the IOC faced a very difficult decision, both legally and ethically, as do the various international sport federations that are now dealing with each sport and its Russian athletes on a case-by-case basis.”

Canadian athletes, he adds, are consistently among the cleanest in the world.

For Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, part of the thrill of Rio is waiting to see if – or more likely when – the next plateau in human performance is reached.

“I invariably get quite excited just before and during each and every Olympic and Paralympic Games,” he said. “On one level that excitement is because of the emotional high of seeing true excellence in a human endeavour personified in the remarkable athletes regardless of their nationality.

“On a professional level, my exercise physiology research has involved the study of physiological capacities and limitations. As dean, I also closely follow the sports-focused research of my colleagues in the social sciences and humanities. So I think I have a good grasp of the magnitude of both physical and cognitive training that goes into the preparation of a high-performance athlete.

“Yet in every Games there is at least one remarkable performance that has me questioning my knowledge and leading me to ask: ‘How is that performance possible?’

“I’m quite excited to see when the question first materializes during the Rio Games. And hoping it will be associated with a Canadian athlete’s performance!”