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During the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment in Paris, France spread through political thought. Women, known as the salonnières, would host parties to listen to the men, known as philosophes, who would spread their philosophical ideas and political thoughts.

Fifth period, AP European History, was given the assignment to recreate these social gatherings. During their final Dec. 16, students dressed up in the proper time period apparel and took on the character of a specific philosopher.

History teacher, Kori Friesen, first heard the idea from a community of other AP European teachers. In previous projects assigned, the class had to write about their characters motives. The Enlightenment dinner party took that concept one step further, having students act out their parts.

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“For me, as a teacher,” Friesen said, “It’s important that the students don’t just read about it, they connect to it. These students study and study and study. Their normal work load is equivalent to a college level class. So for a final, I didn’t want to necessarily make it even harder than beyond what they were already doing. Instead, I wanted it to be something with which they could interact with.”

Josiah Weimer, ’16, already enjoys history. He specifically liked studying more on Jean Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher he dressed up as.

“I was Jean Jacques Rousseau,” Weimer said. “It was fun, I enjoy history already and enjoyed studying Rousseau. Google Images helped me with the costume.”

Brooklyn Ainley, ’17, liked the different aspect of the project. She enjoyed seeing her peers embody the people the class has learned about.

“It was very fun,” Ainley said. “We got to be in character as different philosophers of the time of the 18th century. It was cool seeing people conversing with each other, but still staying in character. I raided the drama department to get my costume.”

This writer can be reached via Twitter @nhudecek16 or via email at Nicole Hudecek.