Reflecting on Reacting to the Past
Reacting to the Past is a unique class that I had never experienced before attending Barnard. Through the process of embodying a historical figure and immersing myself in a historical event, I got to think through situations firsthand and feel what it would really be like to influence the course of history.
The goal of the Barnard First-Year Experience is to help students read critically, speak clearly and effectively, and write logically and persuasively. No better class will prepare you to do these things than Reacting To The Past. What is Reacting to the Past, you may ask? Simple.
Reacting is a First-Year Seminar class where you, alongside your classmates, are assigned a real person from a historical event. Together, you play a series of “games”—different moments of contention in history—and try to convince your classmates to adopt your beliefs and ideas. In a Reacting game, I am no longer Ellie—I am referred to by my classmates as Thrysabulus, the great Athenian war general. My class played three games, one taking place in Ancient Athens, one in 15th century China, and the last one in Colonial New England. However, here’s the catch: you are tied to the viewpoints of your character. Therefore, it is my role to advocate on behalf of Athenian slaves becoming citizens and that Socrates should be banished for misleading the public. Other players will have opposing views. The game is conducted by players creating speeches among other things to influence their classmates. One unique aspect of Reacting is that the outcomes of a game may be entirely different than that of the true historical outcome. For example, in my game, our class voted to allow Ancient Athenian women to vote, which didn’t actually happen in real life (can you tell we go to a women’s college?).
What are the benefits of taking this course? For starters, the class embodies the mantra of “taking ownership of your own education.” You get as much out of the class as you put into it, and luckily everyone approached each class period with vitality and excitement. See, there is no right or wrong way to play Reacting to the Past, you are able to make whatever moves you want and take as creative of an approach in order to persuade other people. If this means teaming up with someone—go for it. If this means striking a deal with another player—perfect. If this means showing up to class covered in drawn-on-fake-scars and a toga to prove that you fought in a war—even better. What other class do you get the opportunity to do these things? In a Reacting class, the sky is truly the limit.
Also, Reacting greatly improved my reading and writing skills, as well as boosting my self-confidence in public speaking. This class really forces you to learn how to form and communicate a sound argument. Which historical documents and talking points are most effective? How do I get other people to believe in what I believe? Which rhetorical choices should I choose? When should I compromise, if at all? How will my actions affect the other players in the game? These are all questions that I learned to ask myself and figured out how to incorporate them into my work.
Probably the most gratifying aspect, the class resulted in some strong friendships. Since Reacting presents the opportunity to collaborate with classmates, all 16 people in my class became very close. We group-chatted in between classes and encouraged each other to work hard in the spirit of competition. My classmates’ diverse backgrounds provided interesting (and useful!) perspectives to the game, leading to a richer experience. My professor wasn’t exempt from the formation of close relationships; for the final class, she invited everyone to her apartment to eat brunch and talk. Shoutout to Professor Stokes!
Overall, I can’t recommend Reacting to the Past enough to an incoming student. It provided the perfect environment to be introduced to Barnard academics and meet my new classmates. The class has greatly influenced my perspective on my schoolwork and made me excited for many semesters of classes to come.
-Ellie George