Remote & Up Close

What if students could travel back in time to the streets of Pompeii or to first-century Rome?  

Thanks to virtual reality technology, they can.

Students in Professor Andrew Goldman’s History 193 course can look forward to traveling somewhere new and far away, and often into the past.

What was the experience of the Colosseum like for a gladiator, or for a wealthy person? Goldman could ask his students.

After viewing more than a dozen interior and exterior views of the Colosseum for themselves, students can begin to draw conclusions about what the ancient city used to be like and compare it with experiences of modern-day Rome.

Last spring, Goldman began incorporating these reconstructive virtual trips to ancient cities and landmarks into his classroom.

“It allows you to feel and experience in an immersive sense, what’s actually there, and that’s what’s really valuable about virtual reality,” said Goldman, Ph.D., Gonzaga’s former Alphonse A. and Geraldine F. Arnold Distinguished Professor.