Political Science: Civil Protests in SL

How often do learners in a Political Science or Government classroom have the opportunity to engage in an authentic Civil Protest in a safe environment? Can you imagine taking learners on a "field trip" to participate in a protest? Probably not. Second Life changes that, however; from the 3pointD.com blog,

My father is in Washington today, where there’s a huge march to promote peace and protest the troop build-up in Iraq. If you want to get involved but you can’t make it to DC, there’s a series of events scheduled in the virtual world of Second Life to accompany the real-world schedule, culminating in a March on SL’s Capitol Hill on Monday. The events are being organized by members of SL NetRoots and will be held at RootsCamp on »Progressive Island«.

Monday’s march on SL’s »Capitol Hill« takes place at 2:00pm SL time (5:00pm Eastern), when marchers will gather on Progressive Island. The event will be documented, so wear your best prim tie-dye. For more information, contact Ruby Glitter (aka Ruby Sinreich of Lotus Media) or errcheck Hicks in-world.

Certainly, the SL march on Capitol Hill will not provide the same sort of environment and learning experience that the RL march would for learners, but the SL March provides an accessible opportunity to participate in a real protest that has meaning in the physical world. SL or RL doesn't matter, the protest, whether a person or their av marches, is a protest. Given the nature of the issue at hand, the SL protest will assuredly offer opportunities to engage other like-minded individuals in political conversation. Also, given Reuters SL Bureau lead by Adam Reuters (Pasick), there will certainly be press coverage which will transcend the virtual world, reaching into the physical one.