Reacting to the Past
Prof. Keith Dix, Classics

“Reacting to the Past” is an innovative pedagogy using historical games, which engage students in active learning as they lead each other in explorations of great texts in the history of ideas. The games are appropriate not only for courses in history and Western civilization, but also in anthropology, communications, education, English, history of science, philosophy, political science, religion, and women’s studies.

Participants in this FLC will experience Reacting by playing one of the current games. They will explore the use of Reacting pedagogy in a wide variety of courses and classroom settings and the process of creating their own games.

To see a Reacting game, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YZtUB-ifgg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c60E702yYWI. For more information, see the Reacting webpage at http://www.barnard.edu/reacting/; for more information on Reacting at UGA, see http://www.franklin.uga.edu/chronicle/fall08/reacting.pdf.

More than 160 colleges and universities (including the University of Georgia) now offer Reacting classes. Students are assigned roles, which include detailed descriptions of their individual intellectual goals and possible strategies, along with personalized victory objectives. The instructor performs the conventional tasks of grading students’ oral and written work, and conducting classes to introduce and conclude the game. The instructor also serves as Gamemaster, supervising the sessions, advising students on matters of strategy and ensuring that the game is historically credible.

Text-Only Version
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This page last updated on February 23, 2009.