Creating MU* spaces has served a number of literary
interests.
Creating a space is actually not that difficult. One of the main things to keep
in mind is to be consistent, explicit, and provide a set, central theme. This
often helps students navigate and feel comfortable in a space which is constantly
changing about them.
During the Fall of 1995, I began developing The Foreign Realms. The Realms were an area dedicated to examining methods of successfully integrating students into time periods that were completely foreign to them. By presenting specific time periods in history and literature, students could interact with artifacts, materials and characters who would give them information about where they were, and more importantly, about what kinds of structures each society might reflect in their literature and language.With assistance from two colleagues from the Department of Classics, we created Ancient Greece and Rome. The spaces represent two specific time periods and the artifacts there are contemporary from their respective ages. We are adding objects written in Greek and Latin, which will require students to also practice their translations skills in order to be effective in the spaces.
In Greece, we focused on creating pre-plague Athens. The Parthenon, Acropolis, Areopagus are all present to mark the city as Athens. The Agora (market) is the center of life and commerce in Athens, and so any student who enters the area always does so at The Agora. In the Agora, students find bakeries, with elaborate descriptions of the foods available to Athenians, a fortune teller, common in many markets, a pottery shop with xylixes and other pots true to form, and other common sites from Athens. The descriptions are taken from archaeological texts and literary texts, and we created a special command for the MUSH which allowed students to get a modern library reference for the books the descriptions may have originated. We eventually kept the market as a reference point, and subsequently, entrance to any of the realms required that the student enter through the culture's marketplace.The same was done for Ancient Rome. As a Miltonist, England was a requirement as well. The Medieval and Renaissance Sections are focused on the mid 14th and late 15th centuries. In the Medieval section, students can see the Fields of Agincourt, old castles, newer, extensive castles, a monastery, a tavern and lots of forests. In Renaissance England, students are tossed squarely into London, into the Bookstalls around St. Paul's Cathedral. They can cross the river and see a rehearsal of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" in the Globe Theatre, and examine the Houses of Parliament.
All throughout these spaces over the past year and a half, students have visited, added structures and created and left artifacts for others to examine. The assignments have varied, and many seem to find the Realms a great place to discover and use literary and cultural knowledge.