Innovative Teaching Method
This innovative approach integrates political science education with literature through a unique simulation-based course centered on restorative justice. The curriculum features case studies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in post-apartheid South Africa and ongoing debates surrounding TRC implementation in Northern Ireland.
Engaging Learning Experience
Students participate in an intensive two-week simulation, role-playing as key stakeholders including victims, perpetrators, legal representatives, government officials, and NGO advocates. This immersive experience allows participants to explore complex political dynamics emerging from collective trauma while applying scholarly concepts to real-world dilemmas.
Assessment Methods
Course effectiveness is evaluated through structured pre- and post-simulation writing assignments that help students articulate their evolving understanding of restorative justice processes, alongside ethnographic observations capturing emergent insights revealed during negotiation exercises.
| Pandemic Fiction Meets Political Science: A Simulation for Teaching Restorative Justice was authored by Lisa Propst and Christopher C. Robinson. It was published by Cambridge in PS in 2021. |
