The classroom in the Pray-Harrold building is desultory,
a bland, windowless collection of desks, chairs and chalkboard.
But on this morning, the scene in Professor Mark Higbee's
history class crackles with energy. Contentious statements
fill the air amid the tense atmosphere.
The scene is a meeting hall in 1835, as members of the
Cherokee National Council debate their response to the
U.S. Government's order to leave their native land, evacuate
Georgia and head to lands west of the Mississippi, in what
is now Oklahoma.
 |
PANEL POWWOW: During a Reacting to the
Past
conference in the Student Center last fall,
Eastern
Michigan University students and others
portrayed
certain characters in historical scenarios.
Students
are (from left) Olivia Mbala-Nkanga, Julie
Salo,
Karen Praszynski, Vinnie Massimino, all from
EMU;
and Dani Holtz, a graduate student from the
University of Pennsylvania. |
Playing the part of John Ross, principal chief of the
Cherokee people, EMU sophomore Olivia Mbala-Nkanga calls
the class to order. The group quickly replicates the kind
of mingling and sense of urgency that would precede this
early 19th-century gathering.
Ross underlined the Cherokee desire to stay and fight.
"I refuse to believe that my people are weak and unable
to face what is to come," Mbala-Nkanga said convincingly. "It
will not be easy. The one thing I will not give up is hope ... I
will stand my ground on your behalf."
The class offered a vivid example of a new method of teaching
that Higbee and other professors around the country have
embraced. The Reacting to the Past method consists of elaborate
games, set in the past, in which students are assigned
roles with "victory objectives" informed by classic texts
in the history of ideas.
Class sessions are run entirely by students. Instructors
advise and guide students, and grade their oral and written
contributions to the game. The game seeks to draw students
into the past, promote engagement with major ideas and
improve speaking, writing and leadership skills.
During the fall semester, Higbee used the method in his
History 115 class, entitled "Making American Society: Race,
Ethnicity and Gender in Historical Perspective."
Students in the class played three Reacting games, including "Red
Clay, 1835: Cherokee Removal and the Meaning of Sovereignty," which
was developed by Jace and Laura Weaver, husband and wife
faculty members at the University of Georgia. Laura is
a scholar of Native American literature and Jace directs
the university's Institute of Native American Studies.
Elevating student engagement
Reacting to the Past games provide a way of engaging students
on many levels, Higbee said. They interact with one another
while conducting intellectual work, engaging in research,
making speeches and trying to "win" the game.
"They learn and have fun, and devote far more hours to
the class than what is typical for introductory-level classes," Higbee
said.
The Reacting method nearly always motivates and inspires
students, even those with widely divergent skill levels.
"It demands a lot of students, but they rise to those
demands because they want to win the game. And they form
close bonds with their peers on the same team," Higbee
said.
Mbala-Nkanga said she loves the Reacting to the Past method.
"It makes a particular part of history very personal," she
said. "We are no longer just reading about a particular
event that happened way back then. Instead, for a little
while, we are part of that history.
"It forces us to look at other points of view. Actually
not just look, but also live those points of view," she
added.
Not that Mbala-Nkanga liked all characters she portrayed.
For instance, in another game, she filled the role of Daniel
Webster. His perspective on life differed from hers, to
put it mildly. She learned to "put myself aside" and embody
the person by reading primary documents.
Mbala-Nkanga said that Reacting to the Past not only tests
one's knowledge of history, but it also strengthens students'
public speaking and debating capabilities.
As part of that day's game, members of the class questioned
the length of Ross' leadership, wondering if it was time
for a new election as a show of Cherokee credibility.
Class member Chris Knight, playing the role of Red Eagle,
spoke sharply on Ross's behalf, saying the chief had done
an "adequate" job representing the Cherokee nation.
"By changing leadership, you are telling the opposition,
'We are conflicted,'" Knight said. "Such waffling promotes
that notion that, 'We can take your land, because you are
divided.'"
Student Josh Schwanke, playing the role of deputy commissioner,
was peppered with questions over the government's offer
of $3.5 million to the Cherokee Nation to vacate and sell
its precious lands.
Schwanke patiently answered questions, but was clearly
a figurehead. Symbolically behind him was the gloved fist
of President Andrew Jackson, an Indian hater who stood
ready to mount horses and force the issue. The historical
lesson: Despite the protests and talk, this is a fait accompli
for the Cherokee people.
Higbee said that many students report that their Reacting
classes are the best experiences they've had in college,
creating ways in which students get to know one another
well while collaborating on academic tasks.
"That is a sharp contrast to virtually all other classes
not designed for students within a particular major," Higbee
says.
More "Reaction" planned
Eastern Michigan is considering integrating the method
into a series of revisions in its freshman curriculum this
coming fall. Such an intense, stimulating experience will
promote student engagement, the thinking goes. A decision
on specific classes will be made during this term.
 |
MAKING HER POINT: During a conference
at the
Student Center last October, Stephanie Jass, a
professor of history at Adrian College,
discusses the
educational benefits for students who
participate in
Reacting to the Past. Jass and other
Adrian College
professors plan to incorporate the
teaching method
into some of their classes this fall.
|
The method also was on display at a regional conference,
which took place at EMU last fall. Scholars from around
the country as well as EMU faculty and staff attended.
Participants played a compressed version of one of two
Reacting to the Past games: "Charles Darwin, the Copley
Medal and the Rise of Naturalism, 1862-64" or "Defining
a Nation: India on the Eve of Independence, 1945."
History professor Mark Carnes, a Barnard College scholar
who invented the Reacting method, attended the EMU conference
and ran the India game. He passed out notes to help
clarify issues and urged people on in their roles, as the
conference room in the EMU Student Center was transformed
into a politically charged meeting hall in India.
Ian McNeely, a professor of history from the University
or Oregon, was convincing in his role as Maulana Azad,
the Indian leader who supported Hindu-Muslim unity.
"The most important issue facing India is how to confront
the division ... that has been inflamed by the British
... " McNeely
said. "The only danger that confronts India is from within."
The India game represented "one of the great friction
points of the 20th century," Carnes said before the group
broke for lunch. "History that changed everyone's life
is alive today in this room."
The Reacting method evolved as Carnes tinkered with role-playing
in his classes over the years. Then came an "ah-hah" episode,
when one class found itself completely immersed in the
moment and lost track of time.
"My goal has been to liberate students from the constraints
of their own sense of self, while imposing the social and
political rules of the past and binding students temporarily
to particular ideological viewpoints," Carnes said.
In other words, a powerful exercise in empathy that extends
far beyond regular class experiences.
"I've taken quite a few history courses and have even
enjoyed the lecture format, but I find that I absolutely
love the Reacting method," Mbala-Nkanga said. "It is brilliant."
Eastern Michigan hosted a second regional Reacting to
the Past conference, which took place March 12-13 at the
College of Business. This conference focused on the game
called "The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 BC."
For more information about Reacting to the Past, contact
Mark Higbee at mhigbee@emich.edu.
