AP European History Class Stages Enlightenment Salon

On Friday, December 1st, students in Dr. Gretchen Atwater’s AP European History class re-created an Enlightenment salon – a popular intellectual and social gathering where people of all social classes would discuss ideas. Each student portrayed a different historical figure and engaged in discussion on topics ranging from economics and government to women’s rights and deism.

Dr. Atwater dressed for her role as the well-known salon hostess Madame Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin.  

The historical figures portrayed by the students included:

·      Denis Diderot – Charlie Holdsworth ‘24
·      Immanuel Kant – Shaylan Patel ‘24
·      Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu – Ethan Levy ‘24
·      Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Sam Bodack ‘24
·      Adam Smith – Ethan Roitman ‘24
·      Voltaire – Micah Leibowitz ‘24
·      Mary Wollstonecraft – Ethan Kothavale ‘24
·      Empress Catherine the Great of Russia – Angie Ramos ‘24
·      King Frederick the Great of Prussia – Chris Yermack ‘24
·      King Gustav III of Sweden – Abbie Van Cleef ‘24
·      Emperor Joseph II of Austria – Finn Fleming ‘24
·      King Louis XV of France – Grayson Strauss ‘24
·      Madame de Pompadour – Kayla Ruggiero ‘24
·      Cesare Beccaria – Christian Ewig ‘24

The AP European History course examines European history since 1450 and introduces students to major cultural, economic, political and social developments that have shaped modern Europe.