By Marley Malenfant/se news editor
Students tired of the same old history lesson should look no further than SE Campus instructor Stephen Brown’s Western Civilization to 1660 class.
Instead of giving students boring history lectures, he lets them do the teaching by assigning them a project to teach Greek history through a play.
Each play has a cast of five students and must be 12 to 16 minutes long.
The groups could choose either a tragedy or a comedy and then choose one of eight topics: Greek home life, women’s roles in Greece, education, Xenophon, Greek political life, Greek Olympics, Diogenes and Demosthenes.
“It’s a new idea,” said SE student Valeria Perdomo. “It’s better than the boring, regular lectures.”
Every student had to submit three scripts with a bibliography of the topic.
Brown said the majority of the student’s grade is based on content, delivery, teamwork and scripts. Brown said he designed the history project because of how the students will benefit.
“It’s a way for students to come together and achieve a goal,” he said.
“I want students to understand what happened then and be able to compare and contrast things to our lives today.
“It brings history to life for the students, but it’s relevant to what they need to know.”
Students participating in the play project have mixed opinions.
Students like Anna Shannon think the play is a great thing.
“I think its fun to act, and it’s something different,” she said.
Other students like Kirstin Coward aren’t into the project.
“I don’t want to do it,” Coward said.
“I have other things to worry about than remembering a script, but it’s for a grade.”
SE student Hunter Adams said the project was worthwhile.
“It’s another way to study, and it’s a great tool,” he said.
“Everyone in the group has a different role, and it gives us a way to relate to the topic.”
