Communicating About History

Catalog description

“Reacting to the Past” uses a “role-playing” format to introduce students to major ideas and texts throughout history and to engage the historical context where particular values developed. Throughout the course, students, acting on behalf of their assigned character, prepare short writing assignments and give multiple oral presentations, many of which will incorporate visual materials. In short, “Reacting to the Past” calls on students to create for themselves the parts of historical actors in key moments of cultural and political crisis; students must “inhabit” their roles, getting into the minds and hearts of those historical figures they portray.