Reacting to the Past™
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Watergate, 1973-1974
by John M. Parrish
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Watergate, 1973–1974 explores America's most dramatic constitutional crisis of the twentieth century: the investigation of the Watergate burglary. The scandal brought the nation's political system to the brink of disaster: the US president had defied established norms of democracy, and his enemies and allies alike struggled to hold together the country's fragile constitutional order.
In the game, students portray members of Congress,journalists, and key figures from the Nixon administration, all seeking to advance their faction's goals while also seeking a way to resolve the Watergate crisis.
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Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism, 1862-1864
by Marsha Driscoll
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species evoked a spectrum of responses, from fervent endorsement to vehement opposition, because of the theory of natural selection's implications for Western theological and cultural orthodoxy. During the 1860 Oxford gathering of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Thomas Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce engaged in a riveting and widely publicized debate, dissecting the merits and drawbacks of Darwin's theory. Their clash ignited a multifaceted discourse that reverberated through the intellectual circles of Victorian Britain, culminating in the Royal Society's deliberations over whether to bestow upon Darwin the esteemed Copley Medal, its highest honor.
In this second edition of Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism, 1861–1864, students engage in debates within the Royal Society that navigate the tension between natural and teleological views. The student roles delve into topics like inductive reasoning, science in industrial society, social reform, and women's rights, all centered around the Copley deliberations and the societal impact of Darwin's evolutionary theory.
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Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776
by Bill Offutt
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775—1776 draws students into the chaos of a revolutionary New York City, where Patriot and Loyalist forces fight for advantage among a divided populace. Confronted with issues like bribery, the loss of privacy, and collapsing economic opportunity, along with ideological concerns like natural rights, the philosophical foundations of government, and differing definitions of tyranny, students witness how discontent can lead to outright revolt.
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The Trial of Galileo
Aristotelianism, the "New Cosmology," and the Catholic Church, 1616–1633
by Michael S. Pettersen
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
In The Trial of Galileo the new science, as brilliantly propounded by Galileo Galilei, collides with the elegant cosmology of Aristotle, Aquinas, and medieval Scholasticism. The game is set in Rome in the early decades of the seventeenth century. Most of the debates occur within the Holy Office, the arm of the papacy that supervises the Roman Inquisition. At times action shifts to the palace of Prince Cesi, founder of the Society of the Lynx-Eyed, which promotes the new science, and to the lecture halls of the Jesuit Collegio Romano. Some students assume roles as faculty of the Collegio Romano and the secular University of Rome, the Sapienza. Others are cardinals who seek to defend the faith from resurgent Protestantism, the imperial ambitions of the Spanish monarch, the schemes of the Medici in Florence, and the crisis of faith throughout Christendom. Some embrace the "new cosmology," some denounce it, and still others are undecided. The issues range from the nature of faith and the meaning of the Bible to the scientific principles and methods as advanced by Copernicus, Kepler, Tycho Brahe, Giordano Bruno, and Galileo. Central texts include Aristotle's On the Heavens and Posterior Analytics, Galileo's Starry Messenger (1610), Letter to Grand Duchess Christina (1615) and Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems (1632), the declarations of the Council of Trent, and the Bible.
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Engines of Mischief
Technology, Rebellion, And The Industrial Revolution In England, 1817-1818
by Louise Blakeney Williams
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Engines of Mischief explores the day-to-day labor, economic, political, and social climate at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in Manchester, England, between 1817 and 1818. Using new economic theories of the time, parliamentary commissions, and news reports, students will engage with crucial issues of the day, debating factory conditions and child labor; the role of the government in the economy, taxation, workers' unions; and the extension of political rights down the social hierarchy.
In the game, by assuming the roles of historical actors from various classes of society, students are faced with choices about how to live and prosper during this period of great technological, economic, and social transformation. Will the working class violently resist new technology in factories, form unions, or join radical political clubs to improve their working conditions and protect their rights? How best will middle-class entrepreneurs run their enterprises; will they provide fair treatment to their workers or simply maximize their profit? How will the aristocrats maintain their power in government and society? Will they support the middle or the working classes?
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Monuments and Memory-Making
by M. Rebecca Livingstone
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Monuments and Memory-Making immerses students in the conversations and controversies that emerged as the nation grappled with how best to memorialize what was at the time the longest military conflict in US history. As students engage in the historical process of memory-making, they will work to reconcile the varied and often contradictory voices that rose up after the fall of Saigon. Students will tackle questions such as How do we create a national memory of the past? How do we reckon with a war that was widely understood as a defeat for the United States? How do we remember the dead while honoring the living? How do we reunite a fractured nation? How do public opinion and public consciousness shape our understanding of the past, and whose voices are privileged over others?
Working with primary and secondary sources, students will take command of the subject matter as they immerse themselves in their individual roles as historical actors in the debate of how best to remember and honor American participation and sacrifice in the Vietnam War.
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The Prado Museum Expansion
The Diverse Art of Latin America
by Bridget V. Franco
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
From 2001 to 2007, the world-renowned Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, underwent an ambitious expansion project that reorganized the spatial design of the museum and allowed for additional exhibition space. Coinciding with the completion of this large construction project were a series of celebrations surrounding the 2010 bicentenary of South American independence movements, a clear reminder of the complicated relationship between Spain and its former colonies in Latin America. Inspired by this significant historical moment and with an eye to diversifying its predominantly Spanish-centered permanent collection, the Prado Museum decides to host a competition for a new gallery of Latin American art.
The game begins in 2010 as students, assuming the roles of curators, art patrons, living artists, and art dealers, set into motion a series of negotiation sessions that will help the museum decide which artworks to choose for the new gallery. Students will analyze a broad range of artistic movements and styles related to Latin American art from the twentieth to the twenty-first centuries, in an effort to support the acquisition of paintings that best represent the diverse artistic legacies and historical heritage of the region.
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Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor, 1587
by Daniel K. Gardner
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor, 1587 is set in the Hanlin Academy in Ming dynasty China. Most students are members of the Grand Secretariat of the Hanlin Academy, the body of top-ranking graduates of the civil service examination who serve as advisers to the Wanli emperor. Some Grand Secretaries are Confucian "purists," who hold that tradition obliges the emperor to name his first-born son as successor, others, in support of the most senior of the Grand Secretaries, maintain that it is within the emperor's right to choose his successor, and still others, as they decide this matter among many issues confronting the empire, continue to scrutinize the teachings of Confucianism for guidance. The game unfolds amid the secrecy and intrigue within the walls of the Forbidden City as scholars struggle to apply Confucian precepts to a dynasty in peril.
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Democracy in Crisis
Weimar Germany, 1929-1932
by Robert Goodrich
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Democracy in Crisis explores one of the world's greatest failures of democracy in Germany during the so-called Weimar Republic, 1919—33-a failure that led to the Third Reich. For more than a decade after World War I, liberalism, nationalism, conservatism, social democracy, Christian democracy, communism, fascism, and every variant of these movements struggled for power. Although Germany's constitutional framework boldly enshrined liberal democratic values, the political spectrum was so broad and fully represented that a stable parliamentary majority required constant negotiations. The compromises that were made subsequently alienated citizens, who were embittered by national humiliation in the war and the ensuing treaty and struggling to survive economic turmoil and rapidly changing cultural norms. As positions hardened, the door was opened to radical alternatives.
In this game, students, as delegates of the Reichstag (parliament), must contend with intense parliamentary wrangling, uncontrollable world events, street fights, assassinations, and insurrections. The game begins in late 1929, just after the U.S. stock market crash, as the Reichstag deliberates the Young Plan (a revision to the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I). Students belonging to various political parties must debate these matters and more as the combination of economic stress, political gridlock, and foreign pressure turn Germany into a volcano on the verge of eruption.
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Greenwich Village, 1913
Suffrage, Labor, and the New Woman
by Mary Jane Treacy
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The second edition of Greenwich Village, 1913: Suffrage, Labor, and the New Woman transports students into the bohemian section of New York City known as an epicenter of rebels, artists, and seekers of personal transformation. Assuming roles as residents of "the Village," students gather at Polly's restaurant to re-create discussions about feminism, marriage, family, work, and community. A faction of students in suffragist roles seek the community's support for extending the franchise to women, while others in roles as labor organizers appeal to the community for help raising funds to support an ongoing strike.
Students in this game must clarify their beliefs and make their choices through a vote. Will they prioritize gender or social class, political or economic change, or reform or revolution? Will they use their talents to support a suffrage parade or to create a pageant for the silk workers of Paterson, New Jersey? Or will they reject both factions and continue to work toward a new America through the transformation of the self?
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Mexico in Revolution, 1912-1920
by Jonathan Truitt
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The year is 1921, and Francisco Madero is president of Mexico. Just last year he and his top general ousted the long-standing president (some say dictator), Porfirio Diaz, who is now in exile. But the country is far from stable. A basic cultural rift between the elite and the poor portends unrest and a sequence of revolts. Students are assigned to play characters that are charged with stabilizing their country and preventing further civil war. The goal is to reform Mexico and make it a better nation for all of its inhabitants-but Mexicans and foreigners worry that without a firm hand, Mexico's governance might spiral out of control. At what cost will progress come?
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Ending the Troubles
Religion, Nationalism, And The Search For Peace And Democracy In Northern Ireland, 1997-1998
by John M. Burney
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
In June 1996, the British government convened multiparty talks trying to establish peace within Northern Ireland, after thirty years of bloody civil war based on religious, cultural, political, and economic tensions, known as "The Troubles." The talks included political parties from the two factions central to the conflict: Unionists, largely Protestants committed to retaining Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and Nationalists, largely Catholics committed to the reunification of Northern Ireland with the independent Republic of Ireland. Fundamental questions on national identity and democracy quickly turned these proceedings into faction bickering, thus failing to produce any substantive progress. The emergence of new leaders in 1997-Tony Blair, prime minister of Great Britian, and Bertie Ahern, taoiseach in the Republic of Ireland-created an opportunity for reenergizing the talks chaired by the former US senator George Mitchell, with all parties making a concerted effort to reach a viable resolution among Nationalists and Unionists.
In the game, students will represent the major parties in Northern Ireland as they reconvene at the multiparty talks in 1997 to find ways to reconcile two competing visions of Northern Irish nationalism, or at least find a way for each community to tolerate one another's participation in a common constitutional arrangement. Much is at stake, for another failure could lead to a full resumption of the civil war.
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Stages of Power
Marlowe And Shakespeare, 1592
by Eric S. Mallin
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
It is October 1592. Christopher Marlowe, the most accomplished playwright in London, has written The Massacre at Paris for his company, the Lord Admiral's Men. Bubonic plague has hit outlying parishes, forcing theaters to close and postponing the season. Ordinarily, the Rose Theatre would debut Marlowe's work, but its subject-the St. Bartholomew Day's Massacre-is unpleasant and might inflame hostilities against Catholics and their sympathizers, such as merchants on whom trade depends. A new company, the Lord Strange's Men, boasts a young writer, William Shakespeare, who is said to have several barnburners in the queue. A competition is called to decide which company will reopen the theaters. Who will most effectively represent the nation's ideals and energies, its humor and grandeur? One troupe will gain supremacy, primarily for literary but also for cultural, religious, and political reasons.
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Russian Literary Journals, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy in St. Petersburg, 1877
by Linda M. Mayhew
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
In 1877, the atmosphere in Russia was highly contentious. Amid war with the Ottoman Empire, the nation was also grappling with intense intellectual and political conflicts. Various groups and individuals were fervently engaged in shaping the country's future, navigating a landscape marked by strict censorship and deep ideological divides. This game, set in St. Petersburg, immerses students into the vibrant and combative world of Russian literary journals. Students assume the roles of editors, writers, and social activists navigating the complex intersection of literature and politics. The periodicals they produce are filled with subtle political commentaries regarding the monarchy, education, religion, and women in society, all designed to slip past the censors. As writers such as Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky and Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy compete to publish their work, they must align with intellectual factions-Populists, Slavophiles, or Westernizers-and find allies to advance their literary and political ambitions. Editors face the dual challenges of maintaining their publication goals and appeasing the censors, deciding which articles and novels make it to print.
In this game, writers present their work at Elena Shtakenshneider's literary salon, sparking discussions on themes such as the relationship of art to society, women's roles, access to education, the Russian Orthodox Church, and paths to political reform. In this charged environment, the success of a journal can determine its influence on Russia's future. The editor of a thriving journal may even earn an audience with Tsar Alexander II, with the opportunity to advocate for a constitutional monarchy, endorse the existing autocratic structures, or propose sweeping political and social changes.
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Wrestling With the Reformation in Augsburg, 1530
by Emily Fisher Gray
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
In 1530, Holy Roman emperor Charles V called an imperial council in Augsburg, hoping to resolve religious dissention in the empire introduced by Martin Luther, whose 95 Theses, criticized the church's practice of offering promises of forgiveness from sins in exchange for money. Luther's allies in the town of Wittenberg presented the emperor with their theological positions. Another faction, aligned with Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli, offered more radical reforms. The Roman church responded with a defense of traditional doctrines, but by then, hope of a simple resolution to religious concerns had faded. By the time the council ended, local authorities in Augsburg recognized that its neutral, "middle way" position could not continue. The city would have to choose a side in the ongoing Reformation.
In the game, students acting as members of the 1530 City Council of Augsburg must balance competing demands for reform from citizens who espouse the religious conservatism of Charles V, while considering the implications of various Reformation positions for the city's military defense, economic growth, and spiritual purity. Students will have to choose whether to align with the Zwingli or the Wittenberg faction, uphold the traditions of the church in Rome, or create a unique approach to religious practices.
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The Crisis of Catiline
Rome, 63 BCE
by Bret Mulligan
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The Crisis of Catiline situates students in Rome in 63 BCE during a time of urban and rural tumult, economic instability, sensational trials, and electoral misconduct. Lucius Sergius Catilina (or "Catiline"), a charismatic and scandal-plagued noble, has proposed radical reforms that are favored by the urban and rural poor. But he is despised and feared by the senatorial elites who have placed their hopes in the hands of an immigrant to Rome, the brilliant orator Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Assuming the roles of Roman senators who are either for, against, or undecided about Catiline's and Cicero's viewpoints, students must confront the social and political crises of the day by choosing the fates of Rome and its historical characters. Can they lead Rome out of crisis? Or will the political and economic climate lead to Rome's collapse?
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Bacon's Rebellion, 1676-1677
Race, Class, and Frontier Conflict in Colonial Virginia
by Verdis LeVar Robinson
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
In the early seventeenth century, Virginia's Chesapeake region saw the emergence of a multiracial society centered around the profitable tobacco industry. While Native Americans, free and enslaved Africans, and Europeans coexisted and interacted, a hierarchical order formed with a small elite planting class, led by Governor William Berkeley, wielding power over land, labor, and governance. Seeking to form a coalition of dissatisfied elites and marginalized individuals, Nathaniel Bacon, a newcomer to the Virginia colony, led a rebellion against Berkeley and his supporters.
In this game, students assume the roles of the elite loyalists to Governor Berkeley and the rebellious supporters of Nathaniel Bacon. Engaging in debates, conspiracies, and simulated acts of resistance, students will strive to shape the future governance of the Virginia colony, determining which group emerges as the ruling class and which group will be relegated to the lower rungs of colonial society.
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Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France, 1791
by Jennifer J. Popiel
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France, 1791 plunges students into the intellectual and political currents that surged through revolutionary Paris in the summer of 1791. As members of the National Assembly gather to craft a constitution for a new France, students wrestle with the threat of foreign invasion, political and religious power struggles, and questions of liberty and citizenship.
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The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New England
by Michael P. Winship
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The Trial of Anne Hutchinson re-creates one of the most tumultuous and significant episodes in early American history: the struggle between the followers and allies of John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and those of Anne Hutchinson, a strong-willed and brilliant religious dissenter. The controversy pushed Massachusetts to the brink of collapse and spurred a significant exodus. The Puritans who founded Massachusetts were poised between the Middle Ages and the modern world, and in many ways, they helped to bring the modern world into being. The Trial of Anne Hutchinson plunges participants into a religious world that will be unfamiliar to many of them. Yet the Puritans' passionate struggles over how far they could tolerate a diversity of religious opinions in a colony committed to religious unity were part of a larger historical process that led to religious freedom and the modern concept of separation of church and state. Their vehement commitment to their liberties and fears about the many threats these faced were passed down to the American Revolution and beyond.
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The Threshold of Democracy
Athens in 403 B.C.E.
by Josiah Ober
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The Threshold of Democracy re-creates the intellectual dynamics of one of the most formative periods in Western history. In the wake of Athenian military defeat and rebellion, advocates of democracy have reopened the Assembly, but stability remains elusive. As members of the Assembly, players must contend with divisive issues like citizenship, elections, remilitarization, and dissent. Foremost among the troublemakers: Socrates.
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Forest Diplomacy
Cultures in Conflict on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1757
by Nicolas W. Proctor
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Forest Diplomacy draws students into the colonial frontier, where Pennsylvania settlers and the Delaware Indians, or Lenape, are engaged in a vicious and destructive war. Using sources-including previous treaties, firsthand accounts of the war, Quaker epistles advocating pacifism, and various Iroquois and Lenape cultural texts-students engage in a treaty council to bring peace back to the frontier.
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Kentucky, 1861
Loyalty, State, and Nation
by Nicolas W. Proctor
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Kentucky, 1861 pulls students into the secession crisis following Lincoln's 1860 election. During a special session of the Kentucky legislature, set against the looming threat of violence, students grapple with questions about the future of slavery and the constitutionality of secession.
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Changing the Game
Title IX, Gender, and College Athletics
by Kelly McFall
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Changing the Game is set at a fictional university in the mid-1990s. A debate over the role of athletics quickly expands to encompass demands that women's sports and athletes receive more resources and opportunities. The result is a firestorm of controversy on and off campus. Drawing on congressional testimonies from the Title IX hearings, players advance their views in student government meetings, talk radio shows, town meetings, and impromptu rallies. As students wrestle with questions of gender parity and the place of athletics in higher education, they learn about the implementation-and implications-of legal change in the United States.
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Defining a Nation
India on the Eve of Independence, 1945
by Ainslie T. Embree
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Defining a Nation is set at Simla, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where the British viceroy has invited leaders of various religious and political constituencies to work out the future of Britain's largest colony. Will the British transfer power to the Indian National Congress, which claims to speak for all Indians? Or will a separate Muslim state-Pakistan-be carved out of India to be ruled by Muslims, as the Muslim League proposes? And what will happen to the vulnerable minorities-such as the Sikhs and untouchables-or the hundreds of princely states? As British authority wanes, tensions among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs smolder and increasingly flare into violent riots that threaten to ignite all India. Towering above it all is the frail but formidable figure of Gandhi, whom some revere as an apostle of nonviolence and others regard as a conniving Hindu politician. Students struggle to reconcile religious identity with nation building-perhaps the most intractable and important issue of the modern world. Texts include the literature of Hindu revival (Chatterjee, Tagore, and Tilak); the Koran and the literature of Islamic nationalism (Iqbal); and the writings of Ambedkar, Nehru, Jinnah, and Gandhi.
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The Needs of Others
Human Rights, International Organizations, and Intervention in Rwanda, 1994
by Kelly McFall
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The Needs of Others is set at the UN in 1994, where diplomats learn of violence in Rwanda. Representing UN ambassadors, human rights organizations, journalists, and public opinion leaders, students wrestle with difficult questions based on an unsteady trickle of information: Should the UN peacekeeping mission be withdrawn or strengthened? Is the fighting in Rwanda a civil war or something else? Does the UN have an obligation to intervene?
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Chicago, 1968
Policy and Protest at the Democratic National Convention
by Nicolas W. Proctor
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
In August 1968, Democrats gather at their National Convention in Chicago to debate a platform for a deeply divided party. Factions are split over issues such as civil rights, infrastructure, and the war on poverty-not to mention the war in Vietnam. Meanwhile, crowds of protesters descend upon the city. Impassioned antiwar demonstrators plan sit-ins and marches, while the absurdist Yippies, determined to make a mockery of the convention, intend to nominate a pig for president. Journalists flood the area to cover the stories of the delegates and protesters. Over the course of this game, players will develop a better understanding of the complexities of the social and cultural tumult that has come to be known as "the Sixties."
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The Collapse of Apartheid and the Dawn of Democracy in South Africa, 1993
by John C. Eby
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
This game situates students in the Multiparty Negotiating Process taking place at the World Trade Center in Kempton Park in 1993. South Africa is facing tremendous social anxiety and violence. The object of the talks, and of the game, is to reach consensus for a constitution that will guide a post-apartheid South Africa. The country has immense racial diversity--white, black, Colored, Indian. For the negotiations, however, race turns out to be less critical than cultural, economic, and political diversity. Students are challenged to understand a complex landscape and to navigate a surprising web of alliances. The game focuses on the problem of transitioning a society conditioned to profound inequalities and harsh political repression into a more democratic, egalitarian system. Students will ponder carefully the meaning of democracy as a concept and may find that justice and equality are not always comfortable partners with liberty. While for the majority of South Africans, universal suffrage was a symbol of new democratic beginnings, it seemed to threaten the lives, families, and livelihoods of minorities and parties outside the African National Congress coalition. These deep tensions in the nature of democracy pose important questions about the character of justice and the best mechanisms for reaching national decisions. Free supplementary materials for this textbook are available at the Reacting to the Past website.
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Red Clay, 1835
Cherokee Removal and the Meaning of Sovereignty
by Jace Weaver
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Red Clay, 1835 envelops students in the treaty negotiations between the Cherokee National Council and representatives of the United States at Red Clay, Tennessee. As pressure mounts on the Cherokee to accept treaty terms, students must confront issues such as nationhood, westward expansion, and culture change. This game book includes vital materials on the game's historical background, rules, procedures, and assignments, as well as core texts by figures such as Andrew Jackson, John Ross, and Elias Boudinot.
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Japan, 1941
Between Pan-Asianism and the West
by John E. Moser
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Set in Japan during the early years of World War II, this game helps students understand the political and strategic reasons behind Japan's decision to enter the war. Taking on the roles of leading figures in Tokyo-army or navy officers, bureaucrats, and members of the Imperial Court-students are thrust into the middle of Japan's strategic dilemma. Drawing on important works from Japan's past, players must advise the emperor on how to proceed. Will they call for a "strike south" to seize the natural resources of Southeast Asia-even at the risk of war with Great Britain and the United States? Or will they seek an understanding with those nations – even if it means giving up the ideal of a Pan-Asian partnership?
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The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Constructing the American Republic
by John Patrick Coby
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 brings to life the debates that most profoundly shaped American government. As representatives to the convention, students must investigate the ideological arguments behind possible structures for a new government and create a new constitution.
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Constantine and the Council of Nicaea
Defining Orthodoxy and Heresy in Christianity, 325 CE
by David E. Henderson
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Before Constantine rose to power as the Roman emperor, the empire followed polytheistic beliefs. Any deviation from this tradition, particularly embracing Christianity, was met with severe punishment including imprisonment, torture, and execution. Christians were especially targeted as their faith was considered a "cult" at the time. However, after Constantine embraced Christianity, there was a significant shift. In 325 CE, Constantine summoned early Christian leaders to Nicaea (modern-day &304;znik in Turkey) to deliberate on matters pertaining to the governance and doctrines of a unified Christian church This gathering aimed to establish a single, cohesive, and catholic church that would unify the Roman world under one dominant religion.
In the game, students immerse themselves in the theological debates that defined the challenges and disagreements within the church leadership, addressing fundamental aspects of Christian beliefs. Can the bishops assembled at the council resolve these issues, or will the church face division or dissolution? The outcome of this conference holds the power to shape the trajectory of Christianity for centuries to come.
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Ashoka
Becoming the Dharma King
by J. Noel Hubler
Part of the Reacting to the Past™ series
Travel back to 258 BCE and step into the Royal Council of King Ashoka, the powerful ruler of Magadha whose empire spanned most of India. Ashoka's bold vision is to rule not by force but through dharma-a growing concept of universal order and ethical governance. As councillors, students join a diverse group of voices-Brahmin traditionalists, Jains, Ājīvikas, and Buddhists-each with unique beliefs about truth and leadership. Together they will debate crucial issues: whether to abolish animal sacrifice, how to build public welfare, whether to commission dharma officials, and whether some traditions should be prohibited as dangers to the kingdoms.
Balancing Ashoka's Buddhist faith with political unity, councillors must navigate competing moral and spiritual values, form alliances, and advocate for their communities without alienating others. Students explore the rise of Buddhism, religious pluralism, and the challenges of ethical leadership in ancient India through the game. Engaging with these complex debates gives students insight into how spiritual ideals and political realities shaped Ashoka's lasting legacy.
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