Playing History

HIST 3908B: Playing History

Fall 2026
 
Professor Pamela J. Walker
 
In this course, we will study history by playing games.
 
For many decades, university professors, politicians and parents have lamented that university students seem more interested in having fun than studying.  In 1913, a Harvard professor lamented that his students “could not be much stimulated by any inducements a teacher could suggest.” Reacting to the Past (RTTP) takes a different approach to university studies and makes subversive play integral to a historical study. It makes studying history fun, serious fun. Students who enjoy theatre, debating, public speaking, role playing games, board games, sports, and problem solving will have opportunity to use those talents in this course.
 
RTTP draws students into the past, promotes engagement with big ideas, and develops intellectual and academic skills. Reacting roles, unlike those in a play, do not have a fixed script or outcome. Students will be obliged to adhere to the philosophical and intellectual beliefs of the historical figures they have been assigned to play and they must devise their own means of expressing those ideas persuasively, in papers, speeches, or other public presentations. Students must also pursue a course of action they think will help them win the game. Students will collaborate and compete with others. They will work to understand historical documents and to develop their response to the central problems of the game. Together they may develop ideas for debates, engage in skullduggery, or plot to sabotage their opponents. After the game, the professor will organize a debrief session to consider what students learned and how the historical events differed from the way the game unfolded.
 
We will play two games and students will play historical roles in both games that will involve research, writing, giving speeches, and debating. You will have some choice of role you will play and different roles allow for different ways to participate in the game. You will have to purchase a game book for each game and other course materials will be posted on Brightspace. The games both ask questions about Christianity, religious change, and the relationship between religion and politics in modern European history.
 
We will play:
Ending the Troubles: Religion, Nationalism, and the Search for Peace and Democracy in Northern Ireland 1997-98
https://reactingconsortium.org/games/troubles1997
 
Henry VIII and the Reformation Parliament
https://reactingconsortium.org/games/henryviii
 
Students will be required to purchase paper copies of the game book.
 
Students will be graded on their engagement with class discussions of the assigned reading, participation in the game which includes speaking, writing, research, collaboration, and planning, and on the quality and depth of their written work. There are no exams in this course.