Historical Role Playing Games: Introduction to Reacting to the Past

Catalog description

Reacting to the past is a role-playing pedagogy, games in which students are immersed in a particular point in a history as a character living then, in which students have goals and objectives and attempt to win. This course uses the Reacting to the Past historical pedagogy, along with literary sources, film, political theory, and history texts, to help students understand three important moments of historical and political controversy: the birth of democracy in Classical Athens; the American Revolution; and the French Revolution. A variety of texts will be studied closely to help students understand social and cultural attitudes during all three periods of political turmoil and revolution. Students will engage with texts and debates that were central to the political, social, and cultural changes that took place, and perform in historical simulations based on these texts. Students will also research and write several essays over the course of the semester.