Teaching the Crusades with Role-Playing Simulations

Reacting to the Past's "The Second Crusade: The War Council at Acre, 1148"

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.