Role-playing history game gets students jazzed

It's an icy Tuesday afternoon on Manhattan's Upper West Side, but in Room 302 of Barnard Hall, the freshmen are wrapped in togas. Socrates is on trial.

The class session will inevitably end in a crucial vote on the fate of the Greek philosopher, so one of the 16 students suggests that the charges be posted. Theresa Christensen, a tall freshman who is clearly in charge, pops the top off a dry-erase marker and quickly writes: "Socrates is an impious teacher who seeks to corrupt the youth and undermine the strength of Athenian democracy and society."

The next hour goes by in a blur: After a quick prayer to the goddess Themis, the six Barnard College students serving as the two sides take turns passionately condemning or defending the philosopher. A loud, sometimes raucous debate follows as the session — part freewheeling discussion, part improv session — heats up. The speeches inevitably lead to pointed cross-examinations and cheers — or jeers — from the crowd.

The class is part of a quiet revolution taking place at colleges across the USA and abroad, one that takes an unusual approach to teaching history. Called Reacting to the Past, this teaching method rejects lectures and laptops, instead asking students to stand up, dress up and compete against one another. They do intensive research on key moments in history, then act them out over a series of class sessions. History, in other words, as a giant, live-action role-playing game.

"Students live in these worlds of social competition, whether it's Facebook friends or leveling (up) in video games — that's part of what motivates us," says Barnard history professor Mark Carnes, who has pioneered the history games over the past 14 years. "And to banish it from our motivational arsenal is to guarantee that we've lost a lot of motivational power." ...