Who’s Dueling on Dutch?

Living History Club members and off-campus advisor Avery Prokopowicz fight and practice combat techniques in leather and steel armor on Tuesday evenings. (Photo by Brian Busher)

By Sophie Coker

ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 7, 2025) — Between the Shire of Anglespur and the Barony of Concordia of the Snows lives the University at Albany’s Living History Club, where the sounds of swords clashing can be heard across campus every Tuesday night.

UAlbany’s Living History Club is a student-run group that focuses on historical reenactments and activities. Many of its members are a part of The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), an inclusive community pursuing research and re-creation of pre-17th century skills, arts, combat and culture. The SCA divides the world into regions and kingdoms, giving every passionate member the chance to be a part of a larger community. At UAlbany, SCA members host armed fighting, fencing and crafts nights on campus to immerse themselves and newcomers in historical activities.

For club president Aspen Dooley, a senior emergency management and homeland security major, crafting originally drew them in. They took an interest in ring making their freshman year, a tradition they now carry on in the organization, along with other crafts like sewing and wire weaving.

The Living History Club convenes for fencing and heavy fighting at Dutch Commons. (Photo by Brian Busher)

“Of the clubs that are on campus, it’s the easiest to get involved here,” Dooley said. “If you’re not seeing us, you’re not looking hard enough.”

Beyond crafting, Living History is most visible during its public fencing and heavy fighting practices, held in the evenings on Dutch Quad – a hard-to-miss spectacle for the Campus Center passerby.

Avery Prokopowicz, the club’s off-campus advisor, shared that the armor used in Dutch Quad duels is free to use for any prospective member: “When you see people in armor, most people may assume that it’s an investment.”

While more experienced members like Dooley and Prokopowicz have made and bought their own armor during their time with Living History, the club gives out top-grade loaner gear for newcomers to fight in. They eventually work their way up to 14-gauge steel helmets, where the weight of the helmet absorbs the force of heavily armed fighting. SCA kingdom-goers have even created an armor hand-me-down program, where Dooley has received much of their plate of armor.

Off-campus, Dooley and Prokopowicz have participated in Pennsic, an annual SCA event that gathers around 10,000 people every summer. Unlike Renaissance fairs, festivals like these emphasize participation rather than spectating.

Prokopowitz said that “archeologists sometimes miss the ‘why’ behind their studies,” failing to contextualize the lives of medieval people. Living History seeks to answer “why” through reenactment, bringing history to life as a tool for understanding.

“We’re very kind people despite wearing big scary armor,” Dooley added.

Living History meets on Mondays at 4-6 p.m. for fencing and on Tuesdays at 5:30-9:30 p.m. for heavy fighting at Dutch Circle. Arts and crafts are held on Thursdays from 5:30-9:30 p.m. in CC367 or CC370.

For more details, follow @LivingHistoryUAlbany on Instagram.