The case for historical reenactments

The case for historical reenactments The main feature of my capstone seminar, “The Marriage Crisis and the Middle East” (HIST 4215) is an historical re-enactment based on two early-20th century Egyptian court cases. The students perform it at the annual History/EURECA undergraduate research conference before their peers and professors. At the beginning of the semester, I provide students with two interrelated personal status cases. These cases are about the same couple who divorce due to the husband’s second marriage to a British woman and battle for custody over their two children. Throughout the semester, the students work closely together to research the marital, social, political and economic issues as well as the historical setting of their cases and legal rights of their characters. They then write the script, find the attire and props appropriate to 1920s Cairo and perform a historically and legally accurate re-enactment of the cases at the end of the semester. Newsletter of the Center for Learning and Teaching at the American University in Cairo.