Two Elon University faculty recently participated in a debate panel June 11-14 at Barnard College during the 9th Annual Summer Institute on Reacting to the Past.
Anthony Crider, associate professor of physics, moderated the session “A Debate on the Requirement of Great Texts in the RTTP Curriculum.” Panelists included Megan Squire, associate professor of computing sciences, Elon University), Paula Lazrus (St. John’s University) and Mark Higbee (Eastern Michigan University).
“Reacting to the Past” (RTTP) consists of elaborate games, set in the past, in which students are assigned roles informed by classic texts in the history of ideas. The RTTP Consortium sponsors annual conferences for faculty and administrators to learn about the curriculum by participating in intensive workshops featuring “Reacting” games.
In addition to game sessions, plenary and concurrent sessions allow participants to engage in discussions of a more general character on student motivation, teaching, liberal arts education, and the problems and possibilities of the “Reacting” pedagogy.