Reacting to the Past and Anxiety

Reacting games ask students to step out of their comfort zone and apply different skills than a traditional classroom does. Often times this can be nerve-racking for students and lead to disengagement or refusal to play due to anxiety. This presentation aims to give instructors information on the student experience and useful strategies to help students cope with their anxiety during Reacting games. Facilitator Jamie Lerner-Brecher is a disability studies scholar-activist. She holds a master's degree in Disability Studies from the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) and a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Jamie currently works on a grant-funded project that aims to create, implement, and research the effects of disability training on college professors. Jamie's other current research studies include: a paper on how Universal Design in Higher Education (UDHE) benefits students with learning disabilities, mapping UDHE principles to Reacting to the Past pedagogy, and researching best teaching practices for autistic students in Reacting classes.