Topic: History & Memory
| Time | Days | Location | Instructor | GER | Credit | OPUS Class Number | Syllabus (Tentative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4:30pm-6:30pm | Th | Candler Library 119 | Kathryn Amdur. | HSCW. | 4 | 12950 | TBA. |
Content: This course poses the question of how a country’s formative experiences are remembered collectively in politics and culture. Examining events such as wars and revolutions, we will look at the various ways that societies create historical memories or “myths” and the lingering effects of these memories on subsequent history. While drawing most of its cases from modern European history, the class will pose analogies to similar patterns in America and elsewhere and will invite students to choose those countries for their individual projects if they wish.
Texts: Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory; Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun; Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory; Richard J. Evans, Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust, and the David Irving Trial; Robert Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America: A Half-Century of Denial; Tina Rosenberg, The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism
Other requirements: The main responsibilities in the class are weekly readings and class discussions. One or more films (shown outside of class time), plus a selection of additional short readings, will also be assigned. A final research paper, plus two other short papers, will be required. There will be no final exam.
The schedule of courses on O.P.U.S. is the official listing of courses, including days and times they meet and the General Education Requirements they satisfy. Students should use course descriptions as general guidelines. Course requirements, grading details, book lists, and syllabi are subject to change.