About

Classics Through Digital Leisure-Learning (Project CITADEL) is a Creative Europe (Culture strand) project led by the University of Malta, in partnership with the University of Gdańsk in Poland, the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands, and Born Digital Studio, a technology company based in Malta. Project CITADEL aims to revive young people’s interest in Classics and classical literature through the creation, promotion, and distribution of a digital game downloadable as a mobile app and made available in English, Dutch, Maltese, Polish, and Ukrainian.

The core component of project CITADEL is a teaching campaign held in middle and secondary schools across Malta, Poland, and the Netherlands. The teaching campaign introduced participating students to Greek mythology and the Trojan War in a series of interactive sessions. Students were also invited to contribute their own ideas related to gameplay, characters, plot, and endings for project CITADEL's digital game. This feedback was then collected and analysed to inform game design choices.

Project CITADEL’s impact lies in its innovative combination of Classics with education, co-creation, and the digital world. The project demonstrates how Classics can be re-encountered in 21st century media, while maintaining a reflective approach to myth and war narratives. Moreover, the project also strives to employ Classics as a medium to raising awareness on topical themes such as gender inclusion and peace. In doing so, project CITADEL hopes to shed light on the significance of the Classics in our societies, not only as a discipline which can be presented in a digital and engaging way, but also as a pedagogical tool to promote civic values.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.