What actor should play this person in a movie about their life? In my classes on ancient Judaism, I ask students this question a lot. It’s a phenomenon called fancasting – where fans suggest actors who should play characters in their favorite book series or in other media. ...This is a great idea that I may adopt in my own teaching.
I have started doing something similar in my undergraduate course on the Book of Daniel. We have a seminar devoted to each chapter of the book. We begin each seminar discussing who the main characters are in the chapter, the events of the chapter, what each character does in response to the events, and how we think each character feels about what happens in the chapter. I borrowed the approach from techniques professional actors use to learn parts in new scripts.
I have found this to be a good way to look at the biblical text from a new angle. I have learned things about the Book of Daniel that I never noticed before. And it makes it easy even for shy students to enjoy class participation.
Cross-file under Pedagogy.
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