PirateQ 
One may have thought the world was coming to an end on Thursday, Dec. 5 if walking near the entrance to Building 14 around 11:00 a.m. as “people” fell from a second-floor window wearing some rather “unique” attire. No need to panic.
Dr. Brian Rucker’s EUH 1000 – European History class recreated the Second Defenestration of Prague, which marked the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, by defenestrating (throwing out of a window) two life-sized mannequins dressed in period-appropriate clothing.
Dr. Rucker said, “The class talked earlier in the semester about building a trebuchet from the Middle Ages, but that was too much work, so when we were covering the start of the Thirty Years War and the 1618 defenestration of Prague, they thought we should throw two costumed mannequins out our second-story classroom, re-enacting the event. When students get a chance to attend a field trip, or visit a museum, or do some hands-on historical experience, it makes the material they learn stay with them more easily. Education can be fun!”
With approval through the appropriate college channels, Humanities and Social Sciences Department Head Scott Schackmann and his team were on-site to ensure the safety of all who witnessed this educational, historical, interactive – and fun – experience. He emphatically affirmed that “while this activity provides a historical reenactment, the College does not condone the defenestration of living beings or objects under any circumstances.”
Before the activity, Dr. Rucker educated and entertained the sizeable crowd that accrued about the context of this event. It was a resistance to lack of religious freedom that led to the defenestrations, the impact of the war. Though it was devastating, by the end (with the Treaty of Westphalia), the countries agreed to let people choose whatever religion they wanted instead of a state imposing it on them.
Dr. Rucker then gave the signal for the demonstration to begin, and the mannequins soaring through the air from the classroom window did not disappoint. Unlike their historical counterparts, who survived by landing in dung heaps, these mannequins would have to be put together again, like…well, you know the rest.
Once the demonstration ended, the mannequins’ body parts were collected by the class’s students to be reassembled, and the lifelike demonstrators were restored to their rightful places of honor in Dr. Rucker’s classroom. Apparently, the professor’s spring semester EUH 1001 – European History from 1700 companion class (offered on Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.) is rumored to be already making plans involving a guillotine…
For those interested in learning more about the Second Defenestration of Prague, here are some resources: