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Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Annual Institute! From June 8-11, 2023, we met in New York for the first time since 2019. So much had changed since we last convened on our home campus, and accordingly, the theme for this year was "Reacting to Our New Realities," in honor of this, our non-game pedagogy sessions focused on creating valuable resources and solutions to some of the most pressing challenges that we're facing in the larger educational landscape. We look forward to posting new resources based on the work that our wonderful attendees were able to do in working groups. Stay tuned for new resources centered around: Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusion, Using RTTP in High Schools, and Artificial Intelligence. No pictures to show |
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PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE EVENT OPTIONS
GAME WORKSHOPS Participants will be sent a Gamebook outlining the topics and debates of a specific historical moment, as well as a detailed a Role Sheet for their historical actor in those debates. Participants prepare and engage as that historical actor, making arguments and forging alliances to achieve specific Victory Objectives. You need not be a specialist to play, or to run a Reacting game, but you should plan on doing some preparatory reading. WORKING GROUPS Currently, we’re planning Working Groups dedicated to:
If you have expertise–or at least solid experience–in any of these areas and would like to help shape the goals and outcomes of these Working Group topics, please contact Jenn Worth at your earliest opportunity.
Games offered on June 10-11 (choose one, or opt for the Newbie Workshop): |
7:00 - 9:00 PM | OPENING RECEPTION We invite all participants who are new to the Reacting pedagogy, or attending an official Reacting Consortium event for the first time, to come together to meet and greet over wine and snacks. |
Thursday, June 8 |
8:00 - 9:00 AM
| CHECK-IN, BREAKFAST, AND WELCOMING PLENARY |
9:00 - 10:00 AM | MICROGAME / ORIENTATION ACTIVITY A new addition to the Annual Institute, this hour will offer multiple options to play a microgame--an approach we're finding helps players transition to our larger, signature games. |
| Athens 403 BCE In the wake of Athenian military defeat and rebellion, advocates of democracy have reopened the Assembly; but stability remains elusive. As members of the Assembly, players must contend with divisive issues like citizenship, elections, remilitarization, and dissent. |
| Augsburg 1531 As a member of the City Council of Augsburg in 1531, you will have to balance the competing demands of the citizens and the Emperor, while considering the implications of various Reformed positions for the city’s military defense, economic growth, and spiritual purity. |
 | Detroit 1859: The Frederick Douglass-John Brown Meeting On March 12, 1859, John Brown was visiting Detroit trying to gain support for a major potential solution to end slavery. Frederick Douglass was also in the city at that time and both were invited to a meeting, hosted by local black abolitionist Rev. William Webb. The news got around, and other leading Black abolitionists from Michigan and Canada joined them for an evening of fellowship, dialogue, and deliberation. The meeting’s objective was not simple but focused: to create a new viable plan, a pathway forward to end slavery. |
| Diet and Killer Diseases Many trace the origin of the low-fat diet craze to the Senate hearings of the McGovern Committee in 1977. This game examines the scientific evidence available in 1977 by expanding the hearings to include a larger range of voices than were invited to the actual hearing. Students will take the role of senators and the media while examining scientific evidence at the time linking dietary fat to health. |
| Greenwich Village, Second Edition Immerses participants 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. |
12:15 - 1:15 PM | LUNCH |
1:30 - 3:00 PM | FIRST GAME WORKSHOP - SESSION 2 Debate and Discussion The game begins. During the game, you participate as your role, making arguments and forging alliances to achieve specific objectives. You will participate only in your specific game (either Athens, Augsburg, Detroit, Diet and Killer Diseases, or Greenwich Village). |
3:15 - 4:30 PM | WORKING GROUPS These groups are a reworking of what we used to call "concurrent sessions," will be focused around a limited number of topics addressing particular challenges facing our students. The topics will be announced at a later date, but will likely include things like how to encourage deep engagement with primary sources, and handling difficult conversations around race and ethnicity in games for learning. |
4:30 - 5:30 PM | COLLABORATION TIME This hour is optional, but will provide a scheduled time for game-based faction meetings, continuation of Working Group conversations, or other conference-related activities. |
5:30 - 6:30 PM | RECEPTION You've survived your first marathon Institute day! Join us for a snack and a drink to celebrate. |
Friday, June 9 |
8:00 - 9:00 AM | BREAKFAST |
9:00 - 11:00 AM | FIRST GAME WORKSHOP - SESSION 3 The Final Chapter You'll finish the main action your game during this period. Have you achieved your Victory Objectives? |
11:00 - 11:30 PM
| COFFEE BREAK |
11:30 - 1:00 PM | FIRST GAME WORKSHOP - SESSION 4 Debrief and Post-Mortem The final session includes time for de-roling (from the role you played), debriefing the game, discussion of 'what actually happened' in history and connections to larger themes or contemporary events. The Post-Mortem is a pedagogical debrief in which you discuss game mechanics and implementation. As always, the GM will leave time for questions. |
Saturday, June 10 |
8:00 - 9:00 AM | BREAKFAST |
9:00 - 10:00 AM
| MICROGAME ACTIVITY Was there another microgame you wanted to try? Now's your chance! |
| Ending the Troubles After 30 years of bloody conflict, the British government convenes Multi-Party Talks to try to establish a new relationship within Norther Ireland. Players will represent the major parties in Northern Ireland as they reconvene at the Multi-Party talks in 1997 to confront what to do about the issue of decommissioning and to try to make progress on discussion of the three Strands. Much is at stake for another failure could lead to a full resumption of the civil war. |
| French Revolution Plunges participants 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. |
| John Brown In 1859, John Brown gathered a small force and attacked the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia to obtain thousands of weapons, which he planned to distribute to the slaves to free themselves. The plan failed catastrophically, with most of Brown’s force either dead or captured in less than two days. This game is set at a fictitious conference, called to debate whether John Brown should be executed. |
| Weimar Germany 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 |
12:15 - 1:30 PM | LUNCH AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS |
1:30 - 3:00 PM | NEWBIE WORKSHOP OR SECOND GAME WORKSHOP - SESSION 2 Debate and Discussion The game begins. During the game, you participate as your role, making arguments and forging alliances to achieve specific objectives. |
3:15 - 4:45 PM | WORKING GROUPS These groups are a reworking of what we used to call "concurrent sessions," will be focused around a limited number of topics addressing particular challenges facing our students. The topics will be announced at a later date, but will likely include things like how to encourage deep engagement with primary sources, and handling difficult conversations around race and ethnicity in games for learning. |
4:45 - 5:45 PM | COLLABORATION TIME This hour is optional, but will provide a scheduled time for game-based faction meetings, continuation of Working Group conversations, or other conference-related activities. |
Sunday, June 11 |
8:00 - 9:00 AM | BREAKFAST |
9:00 - 10:30 AM | NEWBIE WORKSHOP or SECOND GAME WORKSHOP - SESSION 3 The Final Chapter You'll finish the main action your game during this period. Have you achieved your Victory Objectives? |
10:30 - 11:00 AM | COFFEE BREAK |
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | NEWBIE WORKSHOP OR SECOND GAME WORKSHOP - SESSION 4 Debrief and Post-Mortem The final session includes time for de-roling (from the role you played), debriefing the game, discussion of 'what actually happened' in history and connections to larger themes or contemporary events. The Post-Mortem is a pedagogical debrief in which you discuss game mechanics and implementation. As always, the GM will leave time for questions. |
12:30 - 1:00 PM | CLOSING PLENARY |
REGISTRATION RATES
Includes all conference events and listed meals. Members need to sign into your account in order to register at the member rate. Become a member here.
| Until March 15 | March 16-April 30 | May 1 and after | |
| Grad Student/TA* | $450 | $500 | $550 |
| Consortium Member | $550 | $600 | $650 |
| Non-Member | $675 | $725 | $775 |
*These rates, while not in reach of all people, are below cost; higher rates for non-members subsidize participation for faculty-in-training.
THE DANA JOHNSON GORLIN FELLOWSHIP FUNDED REGISTRATION
The Dana Johnson Gorlin Fellowship covers registration, travel, and housing for one instructor to attend the conference. Read more about Dana, the fellowship, previous recipients, and how to apply. Applications and nominations are due April 1.
FUNDED REGISTRATION FOR DEI ADVANCEMENT
The Reacting Consortium is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging. We have funded registration for instructors who are members of historically underrepresented and marginalized identity groups, and/or for those teaching at minority-serving institutions (HBCUs, Tribal colleges and universities, AAPI and Hispanic-serving institutions). If you are interested in applying for one of these spots, please send an email to reacting@barnard.edu with the subject line “Funded AI Spot” by May 1. Approved applicants will be able to register for free. Please apply and share with colleagues.
LODGING
Although lodging is not included with conference registration, we do have a limited number of rooms in Sulzberger Tower, a residence hall on campus, for a rate of $100/ night for single rooms, or $65/night for double-occupancy. Reservations are available only for the nights of June 7-10, and all participants must be checked out by 2pm on June 11.
FAQ (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)
HOW DO I GET TO CAMPUS FROM THE AIRPORT?
New York City is served by three airports, as well as multiple train lines and bus routes. Please see Barnard's Getting to Campus page for complete information when planning your trip.
HOW DO I GET AROUND?
Barnard is a very small, ADA -compliant campus, so getting to and from conference event should be quick and easy. Morningside Heights, the surrouding neighborhood, is full of shops and eateries to explore (we'll provide you with some guidance upon your arrival). If you wish to explore Manhattan, the 1 train and a number of bus lines operate just outside the gates, and taxis and ride services are legion.
WHAT ABOUT COVID-19?
CAN I ONLY PARTICIPATE IN ONE GAME?
If you choose to play both Game Workshops, then you'll be able to play two games. If you instead choose to do the Newbie Workshop, you'll only play a game for the first two days.
ARE ALL GAMES APPROPRIATE FOR NEWCOMERS, OR NON-SPECIALISTS?
All of the games for the first two-day workshop are appropriate for newcomers to Reacting, as well as non-specialists in these topics. And in general, newcomers can participate in any of our games, but those marked with an asterisk are considered especially newbie-friendly.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT FROM THE GAME WORKSHOP?
First of all: fun! In terms of practical details: Participants will be sent a Gamebook (either digitally or a hardcopy in the mail) outlining the topics and debates of a historical moment, as well as a detailed a role sheet for a historical actor in those debates. Participants prepare and engage as that historical actor, making arguments and forging alliances to achieve specific Victory Objectives. You need not be a specialist to play (or run) a Reacting game, but you should plan on doing some preparatory reading.
I HAVE A CONFLICT FOR PART OF THE GAME WORKSHOP SESSIONS, CAN I STILL ATTEND?
Yes. While it's not ideal, you can absolutely still attend. Please make note of your conflict when you register so we can try to work around it when assigning roles, and so we can let your GM know.
OTHER QUESTIONS?
Email us at reacting@barnard.edu and we'll try to answer them.