Three of our FIGs feature Reacting to the Past (RTTP) courses within them. RTTP courses consist of elaborate role playing games set in specific historical time periods. The course instructor acts as the gamemaster, determining student roles, preparing students to play, and occasionally guiding the games as they develop.

Students learn to construct arguments from historical texts and then support positions through writing and speeches. They feature small class sizes and credits count towards the general education social science group requirement. For a better look at how RTTP courses work, watch the following video:

Changing World, Changing Roles

Changing World, Changing Roles examines the intersections of social change, politics, sex, the arts, and literature and draw comparisons between the American and the German Avant garde as a basis for discussion about social change today. This FIG is great for students interested in History, Women and Gender Studies, Social Justice, Politics, and more.

Hidden History

Explore the lost stories and hidden past of student life at the UO preserved in diaries, photographs, films, letters, and yearbooks, while adding the next chapter by capturing your experience on campus through your choice of medium to be donated to the university Archives for future generations.

In Search of the Sacred

This FIG combines the study of key historical texts from Asian religious traditions together with the engaging “Reacting to the Past” role-playing approach to learning that here focuses on a pair of concrete historical, political, and social contexts in which Asian religious traditions play pivotal parts. This FIG is great for students interested in History, Religious Studies, Social Activism, Politics, and more.