By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
SIGOURNEY – On Jan. 30, students in Alex Holt’s sophomore World History class held a mock trial at the Keokuk County Court House, debating the assassination of Roman ruler Julius Caesar at the hands of Marcus Brutus. One side played the roll of the prosecution, attempting to prove that Caesar was good for Rome and that Brutus had acted out of his own self interest, while the other side acted as the defense, attempting to defend Brutus and prove Caesar was a detriment to Rome. Nine students from a different hour of World History served as a jury, returning a Not Guilty verdict for Brutus.
“Overall, it was a great experience for the kids to get to perform in a real courtroom and dive into a modern court proceeding using a historical element related to the unit we are studying as a basis for their activity,” said Holt.
Holt plans to conduct another trial in March for his Modern World History class, using the Nuremberg trials from after WWII as a historical reference.
“There are about 20 kids in that class and that one should be interesting as well where the defense is going to have to come up with an adequate defense for Nazi leaders at the end of WWII and the war crimes and crimes against humanity charges that were faced by higher ups within the third Reich,” said Holt. “It’ll teach them that no matter the circumstances, in our judicial system all have a right to defense. It’ll also be important because the Nuremberg trials marked the first time in history that an international tribunal tried leaders for crimes committed by the state. These are great hands-on activities that I utilize to try and make learning fun and get them out of the classroom a bit.”
