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 14 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 14 different games this year:

• The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 B.C.E.
• The Crisis of Catiline: Rome, 63 BCE
• Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor, 1587
  
• Stages of Power: Marlowe and Shakespeare, 1592
  
• The Trial of Galileo: Aristotelianism, the "New Cosmology," and the Catholic Church, 1616-1633
  
• Korea at the Crossroads of Civilizations: Confucianism, Westernization, and the 1894 Kabo Reforms
  
• Modernism Vs. Traditionalism: Art in Paris, 1888-1889
  
• Mexico in Revolution, 1912-1920 
• Hands off Africa!: Pan-Africanism, Decolonization, and The All African People‘s Conference, 1958
• A Different Kind of War: The United States, the Cold War, and Vietnam, 1963-65
• Chicago, 1968: Policy and Protest at the Democratic National Convention
• Changing the Game: Title IX, Gender, and College Athletics
• The Prado Museum's Expansion: The Diverse Art of Latin America
• Climate Change in Copenhagen, 2009

Concurrent Sessions

If you'd like more practical guidance, we’re also offering several 90-minute sessions where you can learn the nuts and bolts of running a game in your class from experienced Reacting faculty.

In “Reacting 101: Preparing to Play,” we’ll discuss what you should do before a game, including how to navigate the Reacting website and its many resources, how to adapt your syllabus, and how to assign roles.

In “Reacting 201: Get in the Game,” we’ll cover things you’ll need to know while and after you play, including safety mechanisms and tips for managing student anxiety, what to do when things go wrong, as well as advice on assessing your students’ work in this new pedagogical context, and how to include post-game activities that will help cement what they've learned.

In the Student Panel–always one of the best-attended sessions at our conferences–you’ll hear from a variety of undergraduate students about their experiences playing Reacting games, and have the chance to ask all your burning questions.

We’re also offering sessions to introduce you to two microgames that work great to get your students engaged and participating in their own learning–a great prequel for a full-length game. You can try Athens Besieged, which asks students to decide the fate of Athens and its antagonists at the end of the Peloponnesian War, or Monumental Consequence, which places them in a small village threatened by outsiders and asks them to decide: is art is ever worth dying for? Microgames require NO preparation by players.

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.

The conference will take place in DeVos E in GVSU’s Pew Campus, downtown Grand Rapids.

Thursday, November 7

Saturday, November 9

Pricing

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

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!

Locations, Lodging, and Food