Defining a Nation: India on the Eve of Independence, 1945 (Reacting to the Past)

Part of the Reacting to the Past series Defining a Nation plunges students into Indias struggle for sovereignty and identity. Defining a Nation is set at Simla in the foothills of the Himalayas where the British viceroy has invited leaders of various religious and political constituencies to work out the future of Britains largest colony. Will the British transfer power to the Indian National Congress which claims to speak for all Indians? Or will a separate Muslim statePakistanbe carved out of India to be ruled by Muslims as the Muslim League proposes? And what will happen to the vulnerable minoritiessuch as the Sikhs and untouchablesor the hundreds of princely states? As British authority wanes tensions among Hindus Muslims and Sikhs smolder and increasingly flare into violent riots that threaten to ignite all India. Towering above it all is the frail but formidable figure of Gandhi whom some revere as an apostle of nonviolence and others regard as a conniving Hindu politician. Students struggle to reconcile religious identity with nation buildingperhaps the most intractable and important issue of the modern world. Texts include the literature of Hindu revival (Chatterjee Tagore and Tilak); the Koran and the literature of Islamic nationalism (Iqbal); and the writings of Ambedkar Nehru Jinnah and Gandhi. Reacting to the Past is a series of historical role-playing games that explore important ideas by re-creating the contexts that shaped them. Students are assigned roles informed by classic texts set in particular moments of intellectual and social ferment. An award-winning active-learning pedagogy Reacting to the Past improves speaking writing and leadership skills promotes engagement with classic texts and history and builds learning communities. Reacting can be used across the curriculum from the first-year general education class to capstone experiences. A Reacting game can also function as the discussion component of lecture classes or it can be enlisted for intersession courses honors programs and other specialized curricular purposes.