Selected Topics in Literature and History: NYC's Traumatic History

Catalog description

This course will look at the traumatic events that have come to define New York City, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and 9/11. We will examine a variety of artistic, theoretical and cultural representations of trauma to understand how traumatic experiences are reproduced, and how those reproductions influence our understandings of place, community, and identity. This course will also engage with local museums and archives, examining how events are interpreted in the moment by primary sources, and what significance they come to hold later for the culture at large. Some additional themes the course will explore over the semester include the relationship between personal and collective memory; intergenerational trauma; the impact of geography, politics, and history on how we remember; the role of objects and memorials; and the possibility of healing and growth in the aftermath of trauma.