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Race, Gender, and Sexuality

Browse and find Reacting games that place an emphasis on issues dealing with race, gender, and sexuality.



RACE

BACON'S REBELLION

Bacon's Rebellion, 1676-1677: Race, Class, and Frontier Conflict in Colonial Virginia

A conflict within the colonial Virginia gentry---the elite planters have been rewarded for loyalty to the established order but are in disagreement over Virginia’s governance. With a powerful elite class ever increasing their authority and landholdings, the lower classes of Anglo and Afro-Virginians have become increasingly restless, difficult, and dangerous.

6-7 Sessions 12-30+ Students 17th Century North America Published Game (What's this Mean?)



Democrats gather at their National Convention in Chicago to debate a platform for a deeply divided party. Factions are split over issues such as civil rights, infrastructure, and the war on poverty—not to mention the war in Vietnam.

5-7 Sessions 14-61 Students 21st Century North America Published Game


COLLAPSE OF APARTHEID

The Collapse of Apartheid and the Dawn of Democracy in South Africa, 1993

Post-Apartheid South Africa is facing tremendous social anxiety and violence. A Multiparty Negotiating Process has been called with the goal of reaching consensus for a new constitution. Race, cultural, economic, and political diversity create a complex landscape for students to navigate.

8-12 Sessions 11-27 Students 19th Century Africa Published Game


FIRESTONE IN LIBERIA

U.S. Investment in Liberia, 1926-1932: "Mr. Firestone, What Are You Up To?"

The ambitious investment by the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in the West African country of Liberia is at a crossroads. Recent reports of slave labor in Liberia have come to the attention of the League of Nations and US State Department and the international attention given to these reports could have a grave impact on the future of the Company.  The League of Nations has investigated the labor issues in Liberia and has called witnesses to London to provide their testimony: should the future of this troubled country include a role for the US company or is it time for Firestone to leave Liberia?

6-9 Sessions 14-30 Students 20th Century Africa Level 3 Game


HARLEM, 1919

Harlem, 1919: A Question of Leadership

EDDIE's is a fictional barbershop where men of all social stations converge to discuss the news of the day. EDDIE’s barbers vie to persuade the clients that their favored leader’s point of view will take the community into the next decade. Although the barbers support W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and A. Philip Randolph, other ideas –both traditional and radically new—will emerge as the game unfolds.

6-7 Sessions 20-25 Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game


JAPANESE EXCLUSION

Japanese Exclusion in California, 1906-1915

In the wake of the 1906 earthquake, a progressively-minded San Francisco School Board votes to remove Japanese schoolchildren from their regular schools in order to send them to the segregated “Oriental School” in Chinatown. This event occurs against a backdrop of violent attacks on Japanese people in California.

6-12 Sessions 10-42 Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game


MEMORY RECONSIDERED

Memory Reconsidered: San Francisco Pioneer Monument During the Culture Wars, 1991-1996

Amid the 1990s Culture Wars, players debate whether to preserve, relocate, reinterpret, or remove a controversial public monument. Debates are centered around the connection between memory and identity and the impact of history on public issues.

4-8 Sessions  12-31 Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game (What's this Mean?)


THE PRADO MUSEUM

The Prado Museum's Expansion: The Diverse Art of Latin America

With an eye to diversifying its predominantly national Spanish-centered collection, the Prado Museum decides to curate a new gallery of Latin American paintings from the 20th and early 21st century. Artists and art dealers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay have arrived in Madrid to advocate for their paintings' stylistic and historical importance.

8-9 Sessions 10-28 Students 21st Century  Latin and South America Published Game


RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION

Radical Reconstruction in New Orleans, 1868-1876

At the end of the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, but this was not the end of conflict. As the largest city in the South, New Orleans was home to thousands of recently-enslaved Freedpeople as well as French-speaking Black Creoles, white unionists, German immigrants, and Yankee carpetbaggers. This game examines the ways in which these groups interacted with one another and contended with the myriad challenges of the Reconstruction era.

6-7 Sessions 11-30 Students 19th Century North America Level 3 Game



RED CLAY

Red Clay, 1835: Cherokee Removal and the Meaning of Sovereignty

A treaty negotiation in Red Clay, Tennessee will decide the terms of American Indian removal from the American Southeast. As pressure mounts on the Cherokee to accept treaty terms, students must confront issues such as nationhood, westward expansion, and culture change.

8-9 Sessions 14-30+ students 19th Century North America Published Game


RWANDA, 1994

The Needs of Others: Human Rights, International Organizations, and Intervention in Rwanda, 1994

Diplomats have learned of violence in Rwanda and must act quickly to prevent further bloodshed. Students representing UN ambassadors, human rights organizations, journalists, and public opinion leaders, must wrestle with decisions on how to respond based on an unsteady trickle of information.

7-10 Sessions 14-32 Students 20th Century Africa, International Published Game


VERSAILLES, 1919

Peacemaking, 1919: The Peace Conference at Versailles

Places students in the complicated and politically fraught peace conference that will bring an end to the Great War. Students represent nations as they seek to bring about peace not only for the present, but also the future. For this game, students work primarily in topical subcommittees charged with recommending course of action to the Council of Five. The result will be a treaty by many hands, many visions, and many competing interests.

7-9 Sessions 10-28 Students 20th Century Europe, International Level 3 Game


WEIMAR GERMANY

Democracy in Crisis, Weimar Germany, 1929-1932

Liberalism, nationalism, conservatism, social democracy, Christian democracy, communism, fascism, and every variant of these movements contend for power in Germany. As delegates of the Reichstag, players must contend with street fights, trade union strikes, assassinations, and insurrections, along with intense parliamentary wrangling.

8-12 Sessions 8-60+ Students 20th Century Europe Published Game



GENDER

BACON'S REBELLION

Bacon's Rebellion, 1676-1677: Race, Class, and Frontier Conflict in Colonial Virginia

A conflict within the colonial Virginia gentry---the elite planters have been rewarded for loyalty to the established order but are in disagreement over Virginia’s governance. With a powerful elite class ever increasing their authority and landholdings, the lower classes of Anglo and Afro-Virginians have become increasingly restless, difficult, and dangerous.

6-7 Sessions 12-30+ Students 17th Century North America Published Game (What's this Mean?)


BIRTH OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE

Politics, Religion, and the Birth of the Public Sphere: England, 1685-1688

Places students in the turbulent political and religious debates of late seventeenth century England, debates that were fundamental in shaping modern civil society. Concludes by simulating the so-called “Glorious Revolution” of late 1688, resolving important player actions throughout the game.

3-6 Sessions 12-35 Students 17th Century Europe Level 3 Game



Democrats gather at their National Convention in Chicago to debate a platform for a deeply divided party. Factions are split over issues such as civil rights, infrastructure, and the war on poverty—not to mention the war in Vietnam.

5-7 Sessions 14-61 Students 21st Century North America Published Game



CHRISTINE DE PIZAN

Christine de Pizan and the Querelle des Femmes, 1413

Christine de Pizan and the Querelle des Femmes examines the power, authority, and roles of women in the 1413 French court. Debates over misogyny in literature, legal theory, and political roles demonstrate the centrality of both women and gender to major issues in late medieval France./font>

2-12 Sessions 12-31 Students 15th Century Europe Level 3 Game (What's this Mean?)


ENGINES OF MISCHIEF

"Engines of Mischief": Technology, Rebellion, and the Industrial Revolution in England, 1817-1818

*Formerly known as "Rage Against the Machine"

Players are faced with different choices about how to live and prosper at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Do you resist or embrace this new technology? Players must use new economic theories, parliamentary commissions, and news reports to debate the pros and cons of factories, the role of the government in the economy, taxation, workers’ unions, and the extension of political rights down the social order.

5-13 Sessions 10-28 Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game (What's this Mean?)


THE ENLIGHTENMENT

The Enlightenment in Crisis: Diderot's Encyclopedié in a Parisian Salon, 1750-?

The story of the Encyclopédie is one of epic struggle, with colorful characters both famous and obscure. Participants will have to immerse themselves in salon culture, figure out who potential allies are, do written and oral work toward victory objectives, and build toward making ultimate decisions about their relationship to the Enlightenment as a whole and the Encyclopédie in particular.

8-11 Sessions 11-33 Students 18th Century Europe Level 3 Game



THE FOURTH CRUSADE

The Remaking of the Medieval World, 1204: The Fourth Crusade

Allows students to understand and experience one of the greatest medieval atrocities: the sack of the Constantinople by a crusader army, and the subsequent reshaping of the Byzantine Empire. Balances secular and theological issues at the core of the East-West Schism.

6-12 Sessions 12-52 Students 13th Century Europe, SW Asia Published Game



FRENCH REVOLUTION

Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France, 1791

 Plunges students into the intellectual and political currents that surged through revolutionary Paris in the summer of 1791. Members of the National Assembly gather to craft a constitution for a new France while wrestling with the threat of foreign invasion, power struggles, liberty, and citizenship.

8-14 Sessions 7-41 Students 18th Century Europe Published Game


GAME OF SAGES

Philosophy, Politics, and Diplomacy in China, 223 BCE

This game takes place at the end of the Warring States period in China, at a time when Qin state has already absorbed two of the previously existent seven states, and is threatening the remaining four states of Chu, Qi, Zhao and Yan. The simulation is structured as a debate amongst the four most influential philosophical legacies of the Warring States era: Confucianism, Naturalism, Legalism, and Mohism.

7 Sessions 13-35 Students 3rd Century BCE Asia Level 3 Game (What's this Mean?)


GRANDSONS OF GENGHIS

The Mongol Qurultai of 1246

This game brings together the rival members of the Mongol royal family and representatives from across Eurasia to debate the legacy of Genghis Khan, appoint a successor to the Mongol throne, promote interreligious dialogue between Islam, Buddhism and Christianity, and plot where the vast Mongol Empire should expand next.

3-6 Sessions 15-40 Students 13th Century Asia, Europe Level 3 Game (What's this Mean?)



GREENWICH VILLAGE 2ND EDITION

Greenwich Village, 1913: Suffrage, Labor, and the New Woman, Second Edition

This game takes students to the beginning of the modern era when urbanization, industrialization, and massive waves of immigration were transforming the U.S. way of life. Suffragists and Labor organizers converge in Greenwich Village to debate their views with bohemians who seek personal transformations to create the new men and women of the twentieth century. Students must decide which social changes are most needed, the ideals they espouse, and the best ways to realize their goals.

8-9 Sessions 15-35 Students 20th Century North America Published Game



GREENWICH VILLAGE

Greenwich Village, 1913: Suffrage, Labor, and the New Woman

Immerses students in the radical possibilities unlocked by the modern age. Exposed to ideas like women's suffrage, socialism, birth control, and anarchism, students experiment with forms of political participation and bohemian self-discovery.

8-9 Sessions 15-35 Students 20th Century North America Published Game


GUERRILLA GIRLS

Guerrilla Girls in our Midst: 1984-1987

The booming 1980s New York City art scene saw the emergence of a feminist art collective known as the Guerrilla Girls who exposed contemporary art world sexism and racism. Major questions for debate range from whether the art world is sexist and should embrace affirmative action to whether artistic quality even matters, who gets to determine such quality, and whether one can legitimately tie quality to sincerity of expression within a postmodern world.

8-9 Sessions 10-34+ Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game


KOREA, 1894

Korea at the Crossroads of Civilizations: Confucianism, Westernization, and the 1894 Kabo Reforms

Reform has swept through East Asia following the irruption of Western imperialism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Set in the Deliberative Council, a body established by the Korean court in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War to discuss and implement measures to restructure government, economy, society, and education.

6-16 Sessions 10-26 Students 19th Century Asia Level 4 Game



MEXICO IN REVOLUTION

Mexico in Revolution, 1912-1920

Rifts between the elite and poor have led to unrest and a series of revolts. But with the ousting of President Porfirio Díaz there is a chance to reform Mexico and make it a better nation for all of its inhabitants. Will new leaders stabilize their country and prevent another civil war? Or will Mexico spiral out of control?

3-11 Sessions 14-35+ Students 20th Century North America Published Game


THE PRADO MUSEUM

The Prado Museum's Expansion: The Diverse Art of Latin America

With an eye to diversifying its predominantly national Spanish-centered collection, the Prado Museum decides to curate a new gallery of Latin American paintings from the 20th and early 21st century. Artists and art dealers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay have arrived in Madrid to advocate for their paintings' stylistic and historical importance.

8-9 Sessions 10-28 Students 21st Century  Latin and South America Published Game


RUSSIAN LITERARY JOURNALS

Russian Literary Journals, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy in St. Petersburg, 1877

Editors, writers, censors, and businesspeople will compete to produce a successful literary journal, which requires a nuanced understanding of political philosophies and writing styles as well as solid finances and social connections. Roles, will give students the option of producing their own creative work, analyzing an existing work, or commenting on social issues in Elena Shtakenshneider’s literary salon.

8-17 Sessions 15-30 Students 19th Century Europe/Asia Level 4 Game



TITLE IX

Changing the Game: Title IX, Gender, and College Athletics

A debate over the role of athletics quickly expands to encompass demands that women’s sports and athletes receive more resources and opportunities. The result is a firestorm of controversy on and off campus. Students wrestle with questions of gender parity and the place of athletics in higher education.

7-10 Sessions 10-40+ Students 20th Century North America    Published Game


TRIAL OF ANNE HUTCHINSON

The Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New England

Recreates one of the most tumultuous and significant episodes in early American history: the struggle between the followers and allies of John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and those of Anne Hutchinson, a strong-willed and brilliant religious dissenter.

7-9 Sessions 11-19 Students 17th Century North America Published Game


WEIMAR GERMANY

Democracy in Crisis, Weimar Germany, 1929-1932

Liberalism, nationalism, conservatism, social democracy, Christian democracy, communism, fascism, and every variant of these movements contend for power in Germany. As delegates of the Reichstag, players must contend with street fights, trade union strikes, assassinations, and insurrections, along with intense parliamentary wrangling.

8-12 Sessions 8-60+ Students 20th Century Europe Published Game




SEXUALITY

CONGRESSIONAL AIDS HEARINGS

After a Long Battle: Congressional Response to the AIDS Epidemic, 1982-1985

Asks players to put themselves in the shoes of those living at the height of the AIDS epidemic in America when next to nothing was known about the virus. By taking the roles of congressional representatives, government epidemiologists, doctors, researchers, gay activists, preachers, journalists, and citizens, students can understand the radical changes to society when a new disease caught the country unprepared.

6-11 Sessions 10-30 Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game


MEMORY RECONSIDERED

Memory Reconsidered: San Francisco Pioneer Monument During the Culture Wars, 1991-1996

Amid the 1990s Culture Wars, players debate whether to preserve, relocate, reinterpret, or remove a controversial public monument. Debates are centered around the connection between memory and identity and the impact of history on public issues.

4-8 Sessions  12-31 Students 20th Century North America Level 3 Game (What's this Mean?)


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