ABSTRACT
Reacting to the Past is an established program that works to engage students on a deeper level by having them work with primary materials actively through role playing. It is handy to have numbers to quantify student engagement and achievement, and to support our experience of how students responded to this class, but our experiences with the students are even more powerful than the numbers suggest. Mastering three key learning objectives: exploring historical perspectives, writing effective speeches, and developing skills in public speaking, begins with this assignment asking students to introduce their characters. Students quickly become frustrated when what seemed like an easy issue turns out to be infinitely more complicated. One issue of intense debate for our class was the political representation of women. Students debated these complex questions during a special class session called the Etta Palm Salon. It was quite an amazing thing to hear the incredibly articulate arguments our women made against women having power.
