Reacting at GVSU
Reacting at GVSU Conference
Thresholds of Democracy
Grand Valley State University has been a stalwart of Reacting for many years and has done much to spread the pedagogy in the Upper Midwest. Now, this Founding Institutional Member of the Consortium is hosting a three-day “sampler event” for high school and college faculty looking to reinvigorate their classrooms! Thanks to generous support from across Grand Valley State University, rates for this three-day event start at just $25!
Programming
The theme for this event is “Thresholds of Democracy,” echoing the flagship Reacting game set in 403 BCE Athens, the momentous 2024 election, and the ever-precarious, ever-hopeful, ever-changing state of democracy. This theme also honors the work of our special guest, Nadine Strossen. Strossen, former ACLU President (1991-2008), professor of law emerita at NYU, and author of, among other titles, Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford UP, 2018) will deliver a closing plenary on Saturday, November 7, generously sponsored by Voices for Liberty at George Mason University.
Keynote Interview: Nadine Strossen
Nadine Strossen, the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and past President of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008), is a Senior Fellow with FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education) and a leading expert and frequent speaker/media commentator on constitutional law and civil liberties, who has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. She serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin.
Workshops
Reacting is an active-learning method, and so all of our events involve experiencing our games as students do: as a historical actor! Unlike many of our regional events or our Annual Institute, where you would play through the entirety of one or two games, this conference offers the chance to sample as many as six different games (of 15 options) in a compressed format that will lay out the parameters and structures of the game before participants will play through a single debate from the game in character.
Participants will be sent a digital gamebook for each game, outlining the topics and debates of a historical moment, as well as a detailed role sheet for a historical actor in those debates. You need not be a specialist to play (or run) a Reacting game, but you should plan on doing some preparatory reading. You can expect to dedicate approximately two hours of prep time to each game workshop you choose.
While Reacting to the Past was created for higher education classrooms, high school faculty have been gravitating towards the pedagogy for its mix of rigor and playfulness. Both tertiary and secondary educators are welcome at this conference, though we’ve built a high-school-specific programming option into Saturday’s schedule. Saturday afternoon will also feature a session targeting Reacting for world language classrooms, as well as one game option for those looking to experience as many games as possible.
Games
We are pleased to offer introductions to 15 different games this year:
The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 B.C.E.
The Crisis of Catiline: Rome, 63 BCE
Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor, 1587
Stages of Power: Marlowe and Shakespeare, 1592
The Trial of Galileo: Aristotelianism, the "New Cosmology," and the Catholic Church, 1616-1633
Korea at the Crossroads of Civilizations: Confucianism, Westernization, and the 1894 Kabo Reforms
Modernism Vs. Traditionalism: Art in Paris, 1888-1889
Mexico in Revolution, 1912-1920
The Second Spanish Republic
Hands off Africa!: Pan-Africanism, Decolonization, and The All African People‘s Conference, 1958
A Different Kind of War: The United States, the Cold War, and Vietnam, 1963-65
Chicago, 1968: Policy and Protest at the Democratic National Convention
Changing the Game: Title IX, Gender, and College Athletics
The Prado Museum's Expansion: The Diverse Art of Latin America
Pricing
Regardless of how many (or few) elements one chooses, the registration rates are as follows:
|
Early (thru 9/30) |
Reg (thru 10/19) |
Late (thru 11/4) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Member, High School/ Part Time |
$25 |
$50 |
$75 |
|
Non-Member, High School/ Part Time |
$75 |
$100 |
$125 |
|
Member, Higher Ed |
$50 |
$75 |
$100 |
|
Non-Member, Higher Ed |
$100 |
$125 |
$150 |
Become a member to save money on your registration! Individual memberships start at just $25. Use code GVSU2024.
GVSU faculty with active RC accounts can register at no charge! Start by creating an account, give us few hour to review and approve it, then activate your account, set up your password, and you'll be ready to register!
Lodging
A block of hotel rooms have been reserved at the Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown (310 Pearl St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504) just a few minutes walk away from the conference venue. To reserve a room at the group rate of $139 per night, please call the hotel directly at 616-235-7611 by October 22, and indicate that you’re part of the Reacting to the Past Conference at the GVSU Pew Center.
Daily breakfast will be provided at the conference venue, buffet lunches at Pide & Stick, less than half a mile (or an 8-minute walk) from the conference venue, and Friday dinner will be at House Rules Board Game- Lounge, about 1.2 miles away (a 25-minute walk, or a 5-minute car trip). If you have concerns about accessibility accommodations, please let us know when you register.
Preliminary Schedule
Although it’s not possible to take part in everything, participants are free to build their own conference itinerary by opting into whichever game workshops, concurrent sessions, and meals work for them and reserving their slots at the point of registration. All times below are Eastern, and subject to change.
All times in local Central Time Zone
Thursday, November 7
8:00-9:00 AM
9:00 AM-12:00 PM
BREAKFAST & WELCOME
MORNING SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)
- Game: The Second Spanish Republic
- Game: Vietnam Escalation
- Microgame: Monumental Consequences
12:00-2:00 PM
LUNCH & REMARKS
2:00-5:00 PM
AFTERNOON SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)
- Game: Climate Change in Copenhagen
- Game: Crisis of Catiline
- Sessions: Reacting 101 & Student Panel
Friday, November 8
8:00-9:00 AM
BREAKFAST & NOTES
9:00 AM-12:00 PM
MORNING SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)
- Game: Confucianism Succession
- Game: Trial of Galileo
- Sessions: Reacting 101 & Student Panel
12:00-2:00 PM
LUNCH & REMARKS
2:00-5:00 PM
AFTERNOON SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)
- Game: Korean Kabo Reforms
- Game: Shakespeare & Marlowe
- Sessions: Reacting 102 & Microgame: Athens Besieged
6:00-9:00 PM
DINNER BUFFET AND GAME NIGHT
Saturday, November 9
8:00-9:00 AM
BREAKFAST & NOTES
9:00 AM-12:00 PM
MORNING SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)
- Game: Hands off Africa
- Game: Art in Paris
- Game: The Prado Museum
- Game: Athens 403 BCE
- Game: Mexico in Revolution
12:00-2:00 PM
LUNCH & REMARKS
2:00-5:00 PM
AFTERNOON SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)
- Game: Chicago 1968
- Session: RTTP in High Schools
- Session: RTTP for World Languages
5:00-6:00 PM
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Nadine Strossen
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Sponsors include:
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center
- Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
- Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies
- Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies
- Department of History
- Frederik Meijer Honors College
- with additional support from:
- French section (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures)
- Spanish section (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures)
- Language Resource Center (Department of Modern Languages)
Brochure
