TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Troy’s Anthropology Club brought students together for a movie night, using an unusual classroom tool, Minecraft, to explore how societies develop and interact.

From the outside, watching a Minecraft video might not sound like an anthropology lesson. However, students used the popular video game to explore real world issues like poverty, immigration, and social inequality.

The group watched “1000 Players Simulate Civilization: Rich & Poor,” a YouTube video that places 1000 players into a simulated civilization. Players build communities, establish social structures, and experience economic differences.

“Not only is it a Minecraft video which will bring in a lot of people for the humor factor, but it talks about someone important anthropological topics,” said Marlee Brand, the president of the Anthropology Club. ” It talks about immigration, poverty, fear of growing in a stressful landscape.

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“It talks about all of these stressors that we actually deal with in real life.”

The movie night was also a way to show students that anthropology goes beyond studying ancient cultures.

“It makes me very excited very happy to see people who maybe don’t know much about anthropology to then come in and learn about how interesting this major can be,” said Vironica Ohlhaut. “It can be fun and you get to do silly things like watching a Minecraft video about civilization.”

By combining a familiar video game with real world social issues, the Anthropology Club hopes events like this can make the field more accessible and give students a different way to think about civilization.