---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rob Garfield <james.garfield@qc.cuny.edu>
Date: Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 2:04 PM
Subject: India, 1945: Reacting to the Past workshop (Feb 22), call for participants (RSVP by Feb 15)
To: socrates <socrates@lists.qc.cuny.edu>

Dear Colleagues,

As part of Queens College's Year of India academic programming, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Global Education Initiatives, and Queens College members of the Reacting to the Past community cordially invite you to learn about pedagogical uses of games and simulations and experience a critical moment in Indian history by playing part of a game, Defining a Nation: India on the Eve of Independence, 1945.

Workshop Facilitator: Helen Gaudette, History and Global Education Initiatives
When: Friday, February 22, 9:30 am to 4:00 pm
Where: The President's Conference Rooms, 5th Floor, Rosenthal Library, Queens College
Preparation: Approximately four pages of reading is required prior to the workshop
Food: Breakfast (light) and Lunch will be provided
RSVP: To allow us time to deliver your materials, please RSVP as soon as possible but no later than FRIDAY, February 15, by clicking on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/YearofIndiaEvent

More Information:
Reacting to the Past consists of elaborate games, set in the past, in which students are assigned roles 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 work. This pedagogy seeks to draw students into the past, promote engagement with big ideas, and improve intellectual and academic skills.

In “Reacting to the Past” courses, students learn by taking on roles, informed by classic texts, in elaborate games set in the past; they learn skills—speaking, writing, critical thinking, problem solving, leadership, and teamwork—in order to prevail in difficult and complicated situations. While students will be obliged to adhere to the philosophical and intellectual beliefs of the historical figures they have been assigned to play, they must devise their own means of expressing those ideas persuasively, in papers, speeches or other public presentations; and students must also pursue a course of action they think will help them win the game.

This workshop offers you the opportunity to learn about Reacting to the Past and Indian history by playing part of a game, Defining a Nation: India on the Eve of Independence,1945, to experience a student’s perspective. After the hands-on portion, the group will debrief on its experiences and talk about how to incorporate the Reacting to the Past approach into individual teaching practice.

Read more about Reacting to the Past: http://reacting.barnard.edu/

Please direct questions to Rob Garfield (james.garfield@qc.cuny.edu).

Rob Garfield

Instructional Technologist

Queens College Center for Teaching and Learning

319 Razran Hall

james dot garfield at qc dot cuny dot edu