1. Dr. Mary Balkun led a project using the virtual world Second Life to enhance student learning and engagement with Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The House of Seven Gables". 2. Students worked in groups to research characters and spaces from the novel and design interactive projects in Second Life representing their analyses. 3. While the technology presented challenges, students reported enjoying the hands-on experience and found it helped demonstrate their understanding of the text and cultural context in a more immersive way than traditional methods.