Web Based Mentorship: Learning Through Character Play

3 credits · Undergraduate credit

Students serve as teaching mentors for a web-based character-playing simulation involving high school and middle school students on a worldwide network, and they themselves also research and portray historical figures. The Place Out of Time simulated trial is different every term, but mentors and students are always presented with a contemporary problem that they must think through in the role of their characters, one that frames an array of social, political, cultural and moral question. Mentors are active participants in a dynamic, writing-intensive enterprise that is aimed at enlivening the study of history through juxtaposing historical perspective and sensibilities. The course employs purposeful "play" to frame a hands-on teaching experience that is supported by extensive in-class and written reflective work.