Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalis 1862-1864

Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism, 1862—1864, thrusts students into the intellectual ferment of Victorian England just after publication of The Origin of Species. Part of the “Reacting to the Past” series, this text consists of a game in which students experience firsthand the tension between natural and teleological views of the world--manifested especially in reconsideration of the design argument commonly known through William Paley’s Natural Theology or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (1802). Note: Reacting to the Past has been developed under the auspices of Barnard College. It won the Theodore Hesburgh Award (2004), funded by the TIAA-CREF, for pedagogical innovation, and it has also received substantial support from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education. With this support, Barnard College hosts a series of conferences throughout the nation at which interested faculty and administrators learn about “Reacting” by playing miniversions of the games.