“It was a pleasure working with Glaire and I strongly recommend her to game designers who wish to develop projects related to her academic expertise. Glaire worked with the History and Games Lab on a project entitled Lion Rampant: A Viking in the Sun. It is an expansion for the popular Lion Rampant: Medieval Wargaming Rules, and it adapts the latter to be played in the setting of the 11th-century Mediterranean. It does that by focusing on the adventures of the exiled Viking prince Harald Hardrada. 

Harald Hardrada’s Mediterranean encounters included the Islamic Mediterranean world, which is where Glaire’s expertise was crucial in two ways. On one side, Glaire ensured that our output was historically as authentic as possible. On the other hand, the History and Games Lab does not view authenticity and scholarship as limiting factors but as opportunities and sources of inspiration to build immersive and interactive experiences that are historically authentic. Glaire was absolutely fantastic in the way she contributed to brainstorms, in the way she provided suggestions, and the way she pointed to useful scholarship.  

A very good example of that was how to include as one of the settings in our game a Mediterranean shrine that included features from Islamic art and architecture. Glaire provided historical examples and explained their context, and she also participated in the creative discussion that led to the design of an ideal-type fictional but historically authentic shrine. The games produced by History and Games Lab Productions wish to bring history and academic scholarship to life through gaming. Industry commentators (including the magazine Wargames Illustrated) have described our outputs, including Lion Rampant: A Viking in the Sun, as a new direction in game design. Likewise, a recent customer review described Lion Rampant: A Viking in the Sun as ‘a new genre – a wargaming book written by historians!’, and remarked how ‘the blend of the two [academic history and gaming] is sublime’. Glaire’s contribution was instrumental in achieving that goal.” 

Dr. Gianluca Raccagni, History & Games Lab Edinburgh

GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums)

“I contacted Dr. Anderson when developing a display about Islamic science for a major exhibition. Being new to the topic, I sought her guidance on what I had devised, whether my interpretations were sound, my object selections appropriate, and what I had overlooked. Dr. Anderson provided expert and accessible feedback, which I appreciated due to my unfamiliarity with the subject. Her assistance helped me to identify a key pairing of objects, which I am now negotiating to borrow for the show.”

Dr. Sue Brunning, Curator, European Early Medieval & Sutton Hoo Collections, The British Museum

“Not only is Glaire a pleasure to sit down and talk with, she is a font of information about Islamic art and approaches her work with care. Glaire will give direct and honest feedback about various aspects of your project, along with actionable improvements (when requested and where needed). Glaire gave me insightful feedback on several public-facing texts for a forthcoming exhibition, helping me ensure that they were historically accurate and culturally sensitive. She also outlined resources I could consult for additional information. Since Islamic art is not my area of expertise, I was deeply grateful for her attention to detail and broad knowledge base.”

Heather Alexis Smith, Assistant Curator, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis

“Glaire Anderson’s expertise in Islamic art has been invaluable to me for my curatorial research on Arthur Melville, a Scottish artist who visited North Africa in the late nineteenth century. She was swift and efficient in checking the display label for historical accuracy and assisted me in using the correct terminology, suitable for a modern audience.”

Professor Frances Fowle, University of Edinburgh

“Thank you! It felt like a really fruitful and useful conversation both in the context of the exhibition, and for ongoing relationships and thinking about our work as an organisation. Your contributions were fantastic in terms of taking us from research to broader thinking about the issues raised.”

Ruth Bretherick, Research and Public Engagement Curator, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh