Blog 10: Civil War Reenactment

            A former student of Stockton College came to Freshmen Seminar to show off his hobby of Civil War reenacting. As part of a reenactment group, the actor explained to the honors freshmen what his hobby is like.

As a biology major, I’ve never really had an interest in history. However, bringing history to the present gives new perspectives on the history lessons I’ve learned about countless times from a textbook. The actor, who was completely open to answering any question we had, notified us of the accuracy, down to his uniform. Apart from the heavy clothes he had to wear and the bag he had to carry with false weapons, for some reason I remember the shoes the most clearly. They were big, clunky, and they must have been difficult to walk in. Not only does the Civil War Reenactment give an extremely accurate portrayal of the factual history, but it also provides a fun way of learning.

In addition to learning a lot about the Civil War, this class was a great way to change it up a little, rather than having discussions only on the books we read in class. This was a perfect example of a more hands-on activity that is educational without even feeling like it’s a lesson. In high school, I usually just read the history textbook to learn, and then the teacher would spark up a discussion on the material. If the teachers took a break from this every so often, I probably would’ve found history class much more enjoyable.

If the actor comes back for the next freshmen honors classes, I would recommend that the actor brings a video or two of his work to show the class exactly what it’s like, and to give a better idea as to what it’s all about. When the actors was talking about his hobby, it seemed as if the actors joked around a lot while learning about history, and I thought that would be a great way to present history to a class a non-history buffs like me.