USAWA is a research-led interactive game and AI classroom tool for KS3–KS5, helping teachers guide enquiry, interpretation and critical discussion around the histories of slavery and their legacies today.
Built from twenty years of research into marginalised African histories and designed with educators for classroom-ready learning.
The histories and legacies of slavery are complex, contested and still shape the world students live in today. Teachers need tools that support honest engagement without simplification, harm or excessive workload.
USAWA condenses years of research into engaging, classroom-ready learning experiences. Through interactive storytelling, AI-supported enquiry and teacher-guided discussion, students learn to investigate, interpret and question the past and its legacies.
Most games let you play history. USAWA helps students to interpret it.
Students enter an Afro-futuristic world shaped by historical inequalities. Through guided gameplay, structured prompts and supporting sources, they explore continuity, change, resistance and the legacies of slavery.
Most tools give answers. USAWA AI teaches students how to question them.
Students engage with a semi-fictional survivor avatar built from anonymised testimonies and historical research. It supports enquiry, source analysis and critical reflection.
This is not passive learning. USAWA is built on three principles:
Project led by Marie Rodet, Reader in the History of Africa at SOAS University of London.
Built with historical scholarship, oral histories, survivor testimonies, curated classroom resources, teacher feedback, ethical AI, and enquiry-based learning design.
+ PARTNERS & SCHOOLS
We are inviting schools, museums and education partners to help test and refine USAWA for classroom and public learning.
Join the Pilot Contact the Team