Maud Malone: Embedding information literacy in a Reacting classroom
Brilliancy Prize for Reacting (2019)
Professor Pamela J. Walker and Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian Martha Attridge Bufton have won the inaugural Brilliancy Prize for Reacting for their creative approach to teaching information literacy.
Maud was a New York City suffragette and labour organizer during the early 20th century. Maud may or may not have had friends and colleagues in Greenwich Village in 1913, but she certainly was on the scene, debating Emma Goldman in 1909 and getting arrested for interrupting President Woodrow Wilson at a political rally in 1912. More importantly, as a library worker she would know where to find good sources. This is why Maud is now a regular character in Pamela’s first-year Reacting to the past seminar, where students play Greenwich Village, 1913, one of the Reacting games. Played by Carleton alumna Martha Attridge Bufton, Maud is a creative idea and an innovative pedagogical practice. By embedding Maud in the game—rather than relegating the librarian to a traditional “one shot” library research session—Martha and Pamela have created a new role for librarians in the Reacting pedagogy to support students’ development as scholarly researchers and historians.
Reacting to the past is an immersive role-playing pedagogy for the teaching of history developed initially by Mark C. Carnes, who teaches history at Barnard College (Columbia University). The Brilliancy Prize for Reacting recognizes a particularly ingenious or creative idea or pedagogical practice that advances Reacting games. Pamela and Martha will receive their prize at the Annual Summer Institute at Barnard College in June 2019.
Read more in “Playing Games Pays Off: Carleton Ups the Ante” by Leah Coppella.