Member of the Month: Franklin Rausch
The Member of the Month feature is back after a conference hiatus! Every month, we highlight one NASAGA member and the great things they’re doing. This month’s Member of the Month is Dr. Franklin Rausch, who was awarded the NASAGA Rising Star Award at NASAGA 2024 for the best first-time presenter.
Why are you a NASAGA member?
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I shifted to an online hybrid format. That allowed me to split classes up, giving me effectively smaller class sizes, which in turn gave me more freedom to move away from in-person lectures and towards activities and discussions (it’s easier to run a game or simulation with 15 to 30 people than 30 to 60). I grew up playing Tabletop Roleplaying Games (primarily Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu, with a bit of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other games as well) and Magic the Gathering, as well as Axis and Allies, so I started trying to think of ways to use the mechanics I learned from them to make games for my students. That led me to do research and try and find people who could help me, and that led me to NASAGA. As an historian, I can only really remember events that happened before I was born, but I think it might have been Jared Fishman who pointed me in that direction. I’m a new member and just attended my first conference. It was a great experience—I learned a lot that I can apply directly to the classroom. Editor’s Note: Dr. Rausch’s 20-sided Gamified Interview with Jared is embedded below.
What’s your favorite NASAGA memory?
I had such a good time at the Atlanta-Decatur NASAGA conference (NASAGA 2024) that it’s hard to pick just one memory. People were very nice and gave a lot of good advice on how to make games that I can use to help my students stay engaged and learn. If I have to pick one though, it was being named the Russian Ambassador (an Orthodox Christian) in the Ban the Jesuits game. I teach some courses on religious history, including one on the history of Christianity from 1500. I’ve struggled to come up with activities for that class, so I was particularly excited about that game. Moreover, in my research, I publish a lot on Catholicism, particularly in Korea, so I thought it was funny that I would end up playing the one openly non-Catholic character in the game. I also just had a blast getting into the character (how often do we get to call someone a “schismatic”?). I apparently made everyone so mad at me that the crowd would have kidnapped me had the archbishops not excommunicated me first (something I naturally protested as an Orthodox Christian!). I was also fortunate enough to convince the Jesuits to come into exile in Russia so that the empire could take advantage of their knowledge. So in addition to learning a game I can use in the classroom, I just had a blast playing it.
NASAGA’s theme for the 2024 Conference was “Fair Play.” What does “Fair Play” look like in your professional practice, and what do you do to promote it?
Our university serves a lot of students who face various socio-economic challenges. And some of them are scared to talk to professors or ask for help when its needed. By using games in the classroom and keeping meeting times small, I’m able to get to know my students and to build a relationship with them while also helping them learn the material. If students have fun in class, they are more likely to come, do the work, and talk to me if they need help. And the more difficulties a student faces, the more they need those kinds of opportunities. So I’m hoping that levels the playing field a bit (making things more fair) and helps students to graduate and enter their dream careers.
Dr. Franklin Rausch is Professor of History at Lander University.
