In spring 2021, ASSETT’s Student Success Innovation Incubator team purchased an Institutional membership to the Reacting Consortium. In spring 2022, the team negotiated a system-wide membership to include all four CU campuses! With this membership, ALL CU faculty and staff have full access to the Reacting Consortium Library, expanded Instructor materials for published games, student and Instructor materials for 30+ games in development, and resources on assessment, rhetoric, and grading. This membership also provides discounts on registration fees for certain conferences, editorial guidance and play-testing support for game authors, and special discounted rates for institutional members hosting Reacting workshops.
Reacting to the Past (RTTP), as defined by the Reacting Consortium at Barnard College, is an active learning pedagogy of role-playing games designed for higher education. In Reacting to the Past games, students are assigned character roles with specific goals and must communicate, collaborate, and compete effectively to advance their objectives. Reacting promotes engagement with big ideas, and improves intellectual and academic skills. (https://reacting.barnard.edu/)
Through this pedagogical approach, students study a historical moment and react to a series of events through a character or role, typically assigned by a faculty member. Each role has a specific goal that the character attempts to achieve. Unlike a play, these roles do not have specific lines or a script, but the student must react (to their opponents or opposition) through the historical figure’s beliefs and philosophical views as defined in a role sheet.
Access for the Reacting Consortium Library (RCL) is ONLY for faculty and staff at the CU campuses. Access will NOT be granted to students. Create an account by going to http://reactingconsortium.org/institutional/profjoin. Use your CU email address to register for your account. If you need assistance with creating an account or more information about the Reacting to the Past pedagogy, please contact Michaele Ferguson at Michaele.Ferguson@colorado.edu.
