Set sail with experiential studies
Students from the University of Indianapolis experiential studies course Applied History of Pirates spent the semester learning about the history of pirates, how to be a pirate and how to speak like one.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, the students shared their knowledge with the rest of UIndy in an interactive event about pirates.
As people arrived, they learned their pirate names by using a chart and the letters in their actual names.
After discovering their names, everyone was allowed to continue to island of Tortuga. Each room in the basement of Schwitzer was another part of the pirate ship.
A section described as the bar, not only had food and drink, but also games, such as Piquet, a card game that was very popular around the time this course explored.
There also was a brig, with a prisoner who told the story of Anne Bonny, a famous female pirate from the 1700s.
The basement of the Schwitzer Student Center was transformed into an interactive pirate ship on Dec. 8. Photo by Kaley Belakovich.
Although most rooms contained things normally found on a pirate ship, there was one room dedicated to fact vs. fiction about pirates. There were actual artifacts recovered from ships, such as a telescope dating to the 18th century. Also, there were multiple choice questions about pirates in life, literature and film, as well as displays of the literature.
“I think it’s a good idea to have the fact versus fiction, because it can help people tell the difference between what people think about pirates based on books and movies and what the truth is about them,” said sophomore experiential studies major Lindsay Behr, a student in the course.
From 7:45 and 8:30 p.m., two students from the course, dressed as pirates, put on a show for guests at the event in the form of a sword fight.
Director of Experiential Studies Samantha Meigs instructed the course. In the past, Meigs has taught courses such as a re-creation of the trial of Joan of Arc, the Spanish Inquisition and the times of mystery and mayhem in Victorian London, the period when Jack the Ripper terrorized London. This semester was the first time the course about pirates was offered.
According to Meigs, students have already begun to ask when she will teach the pirate course again.
“I would love to teach the pirates course again,” Meigs said. “I had a great time teaching it. It was a lot of fun.”
For the spring semester, Meigs is teaching a course with Professor of English Toni Morris called Early Modern Popular Culture, which will focus on the 16th and 17th centuries and feature puppets, jugglers and more.
Next fall, Meigs hopes to teach a course on creating fantasy environments, such as the “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” series.
She also teaches Introduction to Experiential Studies, a class that fulfills the general education social inquiry requirement, every semester for anyone interested in getting involved with the subject.
