The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 B.C.

Please join us for a workshop on the Reacting to the Past pedagogy. During this day and a half workshop, we will learn about this pedagogical approach through playing one of the Reacting games: The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 B.C.

The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 B.C. recreates the intellectual dynamics of one of the most formative periods in the human experience. After nearly three decades of war, Sparta crushed democratic Athens, destroyed its great walls and warships, occupied the city, and installed a brutal regime, "the Thirty Tyrants." The excesses of the tyrants resulted in civil war and, as the game begins, they have been expelled and the democracy restored. But doubts about democracy remain, expressed most ingeniously by Socrates and his young supporters. Will Athens retain a political system where all decisions are made by an Assembly of 6,000 or so citizens? Will leaders continue to be chosen by random lottery? Will citizenship be broadened to include slaves who fought for the democracy and foreign-born metics who paid taxes in its support? Will Athens rebuild its long walls and warships and again extract tribute from city-states throughout the eastern Mediterranean? These and other issues are sorted out by a polity fractured into radical and moderate democrats, oligarchs, and Socratics, among others. 

The Reacting to the Past pedagogy puts students in roles of historical figures and has them research and speak from the perspective of those figures.  This pedagogical approach began in Mark Carnes History courses at Barnard College and has spread to other disciplines and other colleges and universities.  Several faculty at CSU who used the RTTP pedagogy over the last fifteen years.  This workshop is an opportunity for others to learn about the pedagogy and how they might adapt it in their classes.  If the number of interested participants exceeds workshop capacity, preference will be given to faculty who propose to adopt the pedagogical approach in their General Education classes next academic year.

A $400 stipend is available to participants not on summer contracts.

Register using the following link: Reacting to the Past Registration

This workshop is brought to you by Cleveland State University as part of the General Education Initiative, First Year Writing Program, and The Center for Faculty Excellence. We look forward to your participation. More information will follow.