The Reacting Consortium upcoming events

Microgame Online Workshop: Battling Partisanship (November 07, 2026)

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Do the 2026 midterms have you lamenting the current state of American politics? Be transported to a different era of American political rancor on November 7th, and join us for Battling Partisanship: Progressive Democracy and the Drive for a Non-Partisan Unicameral Legislature in Nebraska, 1934. The workshop includes a full play-through of the Microgame, as well as set-up, debrief, and a Q&A session to help you understand how best to run the microgame in your own classroom.

The Game
Politicians, union members, farmers and more gather to debate a constitutional amendment placed on the Nebraska state ballot in 1934, replacing the Nebraska House and Senate with a non-partisan, one house legislature. This microgame recreates this debate in Omaha in which players will take on the roles of Progressives, Conservatives, and Indeterminates to debate the value of tradition and the necessity of political parties for the organization of the legislature. Could American democracy evolve or was it locked into traditions formed 150 years earlier? Could a smaller one house legislature provide more responsible representation for citizens than the complex two-house system?

As part of our Month of Giving, we will also be raffling off exclusive swag to participants during the workshop!

Pricing
Become a member (the self-selected price for annual membership starts at $25!)
$45 for members
$75 for non-members

Schedule
Saturday, November 7th, 2pm-4pm EST

Notes
If you sign up for the workshop, you can expect to receive your role sheet and any supporting materials the Monday before the workshop (11/2) and a link to the Zoom meeting for the workshop by Thursday (11/5).

Short Game Online Workshop: Cholera 1854 (November 14, 2026)

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Can you save London from the scourge of "The Blue Death?" Join us on November 14th and 15th for Cholera! at the Pump: Contagionism, Miasma Theory and Sanitation, London, 1854. The workshop includes a full play-through of the Short Game, as well as set-up, debrief, and a Q&A session to help you understand how best to run the microgame in your own classroom.

The Game
Cholera 1854 takes place on the evening of September 7, 1854 at Vestry Hall in Soho, Greater London. You are a member of a special emergency response committee of the local Board of Governors and Directors of the Poor of St. James Parish, who have convened to respond to the deadly outbreak of Cholera that has claimed the lives of more than 500 parish residents over the preceding eight days. Historically, the outcome of this meeting was the decision to remove the pump handle from a contaminated neighborhood pump on Broad Street. This decision and the events leading up to it are considered a defining moment in the development of modern approaches to public health, epidemiology and municipal waste management. Are diseases like Cholera caused by microbes or by harmful miasmas? What is the role of government in promoting public health?

As part of our Month of Giving, we will also be raffling off exclusive swag to participants during the workshop!

Pricing
Become a member (the self-selected price for annual membership starts at $25!)
$60 for members
$90 for non-members

Schedule
Saturday, November 14th, 2pm-4pm EST
Sunday, November 15th, 2pm-4pm EST

Notes
If you sign up for the workshop, you can expect to receive your role sheet and any supporting materials the Monday before the workshop (11/9) and a link to the Zoom meeting for the workshop by Thursday (11/12).

Microgame Online Workshop: Roman Matrons' Protest (November 22, 2026)

Sun, 22 Nov 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Relive the historical moment that inspired "No taxation without representation!" Join us on November 22nd for When Have Women Paid Taxes? The Roman Matrons' Protest of 42 BCE. The workshop includes a full play-through of the Microgame, as well as set-up, debrief, and a Q&A session to help you understand how best to run the microgame in your own classroom.

The Game
It is 42 BCE in Rome and you are one of the 1,400 wealthiest women in Rome. As most of you are members of prominent families, you are influential, but still legally unable to vote or fully control your own property. Now the current leaders of Rome are demanding that women pay taxes to fund their civil war, which for many of you directly targets your husbands and sons and brothers. Nearly all these women do not want to pay taxes, but opinions vary on how to go about it. Should you try to exert influence from behind the scenes, publicly advocate for policy changes, or resort to violence and assassination? It is thus a game of how, rather than why, change can be pursued. It also addresses a larger question of what rights women do and don’t have: If women cannot vote or serve in public office, why should they have the responsibilities of citizenship but not the rights? How should one resist an increasingly autocratic regime?

As part of our Month of Giving, we will also be raffling off exclusive swag to participants during the workshop!

Pricing
Become a member (the self-selected price for annual membership starts at $25!)
$45 for members
$75 for non-members

Schedule
Saturday, November 22nd, 2pm-4pm EST

Notes
If you sign up for the workshop, you can expect to receive your role sheet and any supporting materials the Monday before the workshop (11/16) and a link to the Zoom meeting for the workshop by Thursday (11/19).