Teaching the Crusades with Role-Playing Simulations: Reacting to the Past's "The Second Crusade: The War Council at Acre, 1148"
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article explores the application of the pedagogical approach Reacting to the Past curriculum (RTTP) to teaching the History of the Crusades. The introductory section provides a brief overview of RTTP pedagogy, illustrating its main elements and discussing its pedagogical benefits, and describes the essential elements and game mechanics of Helen Gaudette’s "The Second Crusade: the War Council of Acre, 1148," an RTTP role-playing simulation that brings to life a dramatic turning point in the history of the twelfth-century crusades. Participants receive roles and "become" the great gathering of monarchs, barons, religious authorities, and others that met in Acre on the eve of the Second Crusade; they engage in debate and ultimately decide on the future course of the crusade, informed by a wide range of primary sources from both Christian (Western and Levantine) and Islamic perspectives.In the central part of the article, I draw from first-hand experience in teaching a class using RTTP and from the participating students' feedback to discuss the pedagogical benefits of the simulation applied to a typical History of the Crusades upper-level course. Different tasks and assignments for undergraduate and graduate students (in a mixed class of both undergraduates and graduates) are also presented. The article concludes with an assessment of the pedagogical value of these simulations, engaging at the same time a discussion of potential issues that may arise.
DOI: 10.33043/9cb36482
Author: Saltamacchia, Martina
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7113905101
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