Engaging the Future: Purposeful Teaching for Real World Learning
Engaging the Future: Purposeful Teaching for Real World Learning
2020 Winter Conference at University of Georgia
Engaging the Future: Purposeful Teaching for Real World Learning
January 18-19, 2020 | Georgia Center and Hotel | Athens, GA
Registration for the Winter Conference is open now!
The 2020 Winter Conference, hosted by the Reacting Consortium and the University of Georgia, explores how educational gaming can enhance learning, build inclusive communities, and improve retention. Participants can choose any one of the following Reacting to the Past games:
- The Threshold of Democracy: Athens in 403 BCE
- Changing the Game: Title IX, Gender, and Athletics in American Universities
- Climate Change in Copenhagen, 2009
- Paterson, 1913: The Silk Strike
- The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) and the Question of Israel, 1947
- Yalta, 1945
Additionally, at concurrent sessions panelists will introduce participants to a variety of other types of higher educational games.
This year, the Winter Conference is also offering--for a small additional fee of $50--a pre-conference workshop on purposeful course design and assessment incorporating RTTP. This track opens with a special session on Friday evening, January 17, from 6:00-8:00 pm, and will continue through Saturday and Sunday. Don't miss this special opportunity.
To navigate this webpage, click the header links on the left-hand column.
University of Georgia Hotel and Conference Center
The 2020 Reacting Winter Conference will be held at the University of Georgia Hotel and Conference Center, located in the heart of the University’s historic campus in Athens, Georgia. Because interactions among creative faculty and administrators are as important as the game sessions and panels, the Winter Conference is housed at the Georgia Center, an ideal fusion of hotel, restaurants and bars, and classrooms and meeting places. To further encourage these interactions, most of the meals are included in the cost of registration.
The Center includes a 200-room hotel, onsite dining options, a full-service bar, conference rooms, a computer lab, a business center, and a fitness center. Shuttle service (https://groometransportation.com/athens/) is available between the Atlanta airport and the hotel, and during the Institute, the hotel offers shuttles to restaurants in downtown Athens.
Beautifully appointed single- and double-occupancy rooms are available at the following competitive rates:
- $104 for a Classic Room with one queen or one king bed
- $104 for a Classic Room with two single beds, each accommodates one person
- $149 for a Select/Accessible Room with two queen or two double beds
To reserve your room at the conference rate, click reserve a room on their webpage or call 1-800-884-1381, mention the Reacting to the Past 2020 Winter Conference and the group code 92399. A block of rooms will be held until December 19, 2019.
Registration Rates
Rates for the 2020 Winter Conference are as follows:
Through 11/30/19 After 12/1/19
Reacting Consortium Member..............$325.............................$395
Non Member............................................$390............................$460
If you wish to participate in the optional pre-conference workshop on January 17, a flat fee of $50 applies.
Featured Games
In Athens, the classroom is transformed into Athens in 403 BCE. In the wake of Athenian military defeat and rebellion, advocates of democracy have reopened the Assembly, but stability remains elusive. As members of the Assembly, players must contend with divisive issues like citizenship, elections, re-militarization, and dissent.
Game authors: Josiah Ober, Naomi J. Norman, Mark C. Carnes
Changing the Game uses Title IX and the debate over athletics at the college and university level to examine what equality means in a democratic society. Historically, high schools and universities had largely excluded women from athletics, and women’s sports operated under separate administrations. Players will explore whether gender equality requires ‘sameness’, examine the modern-day effects of both equality and discrimination, and critically examine institutional efforts to address inequality.
Game authors: Kelly McFall, Abigail Perkiss
Climate Change in Copenhagen, 2009 covers the negotiations at the Conference of Parties 15 meeting that was attended by a large number of national leaders. The game also includes representatives of non-government organizations and the press. Students wrestle with the need to work within conflicting limits set by their governments.
Game authors: David E. Henderson, Susan K. Henderson
Paterson, 1913 examines the struggles of silk manufacturers and silk workers to find prosperity and economic justice for themselves and their community. A small strike on one mill escalates as the Industrial Workers of the World bring in national leaders of the Chicago school, who urge a general strike of the entire silk industry. Players explore ideas of labor, social change, and technology.
Game author: Mary Jane Treacy
Two Nations, One Land sets the action at the withdrawal of the British from Palestine, in a time of violent unrest. Zionists and Arabs each claim right to a the land based on history, culture, and geopolitics. The UN's Special Committee has been called to assess the situation and make recommendations to the General Assembly about what should happen. Will one state prevail or the other, or will a compromise be reached? Can a compromise be reached? The impact of their decisions could resound throughout the area for decades to come.
NOTE: this game is in the early stages of development. Those playing this game should keep in mind that elements of the game may be underdeveloped at this stage, and that upon completion of the game they will be asked to provide feedback on how the game can be improve.
Game author: Jason Slone
Yalta explores the three-party diplomacy between the US, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during the Yalta conference. For the past three years, these nations have been joined together into a Grand Coalition against Nazi Germany, but face instability with victory in Europe and the Pacific close at hand. Players develop a deeper understanding of the ideologies of the main Allied powers during the Second World War, their pivotal decisions, and the origins of the Cold War.
Game authors: Nick Proctor, John Moser