Center for Teaching and Learning
Reacting to the Past
“Reacting to the Past,” (RTTP) an “elaborate game, set in the past, in which students are assigned roles informed by classics in the history of ideas,” created in the 1990s by Barnard College History Professor Mark Carnes. RTTP engages students in reading primary sources and acting out crucial events in various disciplines. Dr. Andrew Schocket, who has used the pedagogy a number of times, is willing to share his experience and expertise with colleagues. Pearson, Inc. has developed a number of these games in book form that are available for purchase, and they have more than a dozen cases in development. The topics range from history to science to literature to the social sciences and titles include Henry VIII and the Reformation Parliament, Defining a Nation: India on the Eve of Independence 1945, and Trial of Galileo, The: Aristotelianism, the " New Cosmology" and the Catholic Church, 1616-1633. Many of the games integrate interdisciplinary perspectives. These games are completely developed by independent faculty based upon competitive proposals and intense development process with the Reacting to the Past team itself. Join Dr. Schocket in a discussion about this engaging teaching method.
Facilitator: Dr. Andrew Schocket