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REACTING CONFERENCE AT GVSU
Thresholds of Democracy

November 7-9, 2024 | Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI


Grand Valley State University has been a stalwart of Reacting for many years and has done much to spread this pedagogy in the Upper Midwest. Now, this Founding Institutional Member of the Consortium is hosting a three-day “sampler event” November 7-9 for high school and college faculty looking to reinvigorate their classrooms. 


Theme

The theme for this event is “Thresholds of Democracy,” echoing the flagship Reacting game set in 403 BCE Athens, the momentous 2024 election, and the ever-precarious, ever-hopeful, ever-changing state of democracy. This theme also honors the work of our special guest, Nadine Strossen. Strossen, former ACLU President (1991-2008), professor of law emerita at NYU, and author of, among other titles, Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford UP, 2018) will deliver a closing plenary on Saturday, November 7, generously sponsored by Voices for Liberty at George Mason University.

Keynote: Nadine Strossen

Nadine Strossen, the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and past President of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008), is a Senior Fellow with FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education) and a leading expert and frequent speaker/media commentator on constitutional law and civil liberties, who has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. She serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin.

Programming

Game Workshops
Reacting is an active-learning method, and so all of our events involve experiencing our games as students do: as a historical actor! 
Unlike many of our regional events or our Annual Institute, where you would play through the entirety of one or two games, this conference offers the chance to sample as many as six different games (of 15 options) in a compressed format that will lay out the parameters and structures of the game before participants will play through a single debate from the game in character.

Participants will be sent a digital gamebook for each game, outlining the topics and debates of a historical moment, as well as a detailed role sheet for a historical actor in those debates.  You need not be a specialist to play (or run) a Reacting game, but you should plan on doing some preparatory reading. You can expect to dedicate approximately two hours of prep time to each game workshop you choose.

We are pleased to offer introductions to 15 different games this year:

Concurrent Sessions for High School and Language Instructors
While Reacting to the Past was created for higher education classrooms, high school faculty have been gravitating towards the pedagogy for its mix of rigor and playfulness. Both tertiary and secondary educators are welcome at this conference, though we’ve built a high-school-specific programming option into Saturday’s schedule.  Saturday afternoon will also feature a session targeting Reacting for world language classrooms, as well as one game option for those looking to experience as many games as possible.

Preliminary Schedule

Although it’s not possible to take part in everything, participants are free to build their own conference itinerary by opting into whichever game workshops, concurrent sessions, and meals work for them and reserving their slots at the point of registration. All times Eastern.

Thursday, November 7

8:00-9:00 AM

9:00 AM-12:00 PM

BREAKFAST & WELCOME

MORNING SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)

  • Game: The Second Spanish Republic
  • Game: A Different Kind of War: The United States, the Cold War, and Vietnam, 1963-65
  • Non-Reacting microgame: Monumental Consequences

12:00-2:00 PM

LUNCH & REMARKS

2:00-5:00 PM

AFTERNOON SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)

Friday, November 8

8:00-9:00 AM

BREAKFAST & NOTES

12:00-2:00 PM

LUNCH & REMARKS

2:00-5:00 PM

AFTERNOON SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)

6:00-9:00 PM

DINNER BUFFET AND GAME NIGHT

Saturday, November 9

8:00-9:00 AM

9:00 AM-12:00 PM

BREAKFAST & NOTES

MORNING SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)

12:00-2:00 PM

LUNCH & REMARKS

2:00-5:00 PM

AFTERNOON SESSION (CHOOSE ONE)

5:00-6:00 PM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Nadine Strossen

Pricing

Regardless of how many (or few) elements one chooses, the registration rates are as follows:

   Early (thru 9/30)  Reg (thru 10/19)  Late (thru 11/4)
Member, High School/ Part Time $25 $50 $75
Non-Member, High School/ Part Time $75 $100 $125
Member, Higher Ed $50 $75 $100
Non-Member, Higher Ed $100
$125
$150

Become a member to save money on your registration! Individual memberships start at just $25. 

GVSU faculty with active RC accounts can register at no charge! Start by creating an account, give us few hour to review and approve it, then activate your account, set up your password, and you'll be ready to register!


Lodging and Food

A block of hotel rooms have been reserved at the Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown (310 Pearl St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504) just a few minutes walk away from the conference venue. To reserve a room at the group rate of $139 per night, please call the hotel directly at 616-235-7611 by October 22, and indicate that you’re part of the Reacting to the Past Conference at the GVSU Pew Center.

Daily breakfast will be provided at the conference venue, buffet lunches at Pide & Stick, less than half a mile (or an 8-minute walk) from the conference venue, and Friday dinner will be at House Rules Board Game- Lounge, about 1.2 miles away (a 25-minute walk, or a  5-minute car trip).  If you have concerns about accessibility accommodations, please let us know when you register.


Thank You to our Sponsors

Thanks to generous support from across Grand Valley State University, rates for this three-day event start at just $25! 

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies

Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies

Department of History

Frederik Meijer Honors College

with additional support from:

French section (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures)

Language Resource Center (Department of Modern Languages)



This website is still in beta, as we add details and edit information.  Please email us with feedback and ideas. Thank you for your patience and understanding.  

reacting@barnard.edu

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