Minds on Fire

Carnes wrote this book about ten years ago as a reflection of his experiences in using role-immersion games—simulations—since the 1990s. It recounts the tremendous enthusiasm of students as a result. Perfect attendance, coming long before and staying long after classes. Student reflections on how much deeper their learning experiences were. It inspired me to write my book based on my use of simulations in the classroom. 

The founder of “Reacting to the Past” pedagogy offers both a theoretical rationale for, and touching and astonishing narratives from, “Reacting’s” trademark: month-long historical role-playing games that place college students into specific “roles informed by classic texts in the history of ideas”, culminating in open-ended reenactments of classic confrontations or historical watersheds like the trial of Galileo and the US Constitutional Convention. Students devour massive prep manuals; the events themselves are utterly absorbing, often with “moments of heart-stopping intensity”; and the thrills spill over into every moment of students’ lives (other school staff actually complain about this) and live on… show more.