Role-playing games are breathing new life into the history classroom
Role-playing games are breathing new life into the history classroom
Role-playing games are breathing new life into the history classroom
By Matthew Guida
May 28, 2020
Summary
In Reacting to the Past games, students engage with history by inhabiting a character.
Reacting to the Past is a series of games that combines role-playing and educational pedagogy.
Developed during the 1990s by Mark C. Carnes, a history professor at Barnard College in New York, RTTP games are set during historical events with students assigned the roles of historical figures.
Students must conduct extensive research on their characters before playing out the game's scenario.
These games aim to teach invaluable skills such as historical research, public speaking, debating and conflict resolution.
Dr. Walker was introduced to RTTP games through her colleague Gretchen Galbraith, the dean of the school of arts and sciences at SUNY Potsdam and vice-chair of the board at the Reacting Consortium, the academic association responsible for developing and publishing the RTTP series.
While initially skeptical, Dr. Walker attended an RTTP conference where she underwent training on how to run the games in class.
The game helped Ms. Dhillon learn more about her character - American civil rights activist W.E.B Du Bois - as more than just as a historical figure from a textbook, but as a person.
In 2019, Dr. Walker started working with Martha Attridge Bufton, an interdisciplinary studies librarian from Carleton who has an interest in game-based learning and was intrigued by the immersive role-playing methodology of RTTP. Their collaboration led them to create a new role for academic librarians, which they applied in the game Greenwich Village 1913, with Ms. Attridge Bufton playing and acting as Maud Malone, a New York City librarian, suffragette and labour activist.
Their contribution to the game series was noticed by the Reacting Consortium and awarded its first Brilliancy Prize for Reacting.
Reference
Guida, M. (2020, May 28). Role-playing games are breathing new life into the history classroom. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/role-playing-games-are-breathing-new-life-into-the-history-classroom/