TOPICS IN MEMORY AND COMMEMORATION

Catalog description

In this course, students will examine processes of memorialization and commemoration in personal, institutional, state, professional, and social realms following periods of mass violence and atrocity. As a case study, students will familiarize themselves with the history of an international conflict (the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, 1969-1998) and the enduring issues surrounding legacies of trauma, victim recognition, public acknowledgement, creation of "public memory," shared historical narratives, and commemoration of violent acts. As a class, we will adopt an interdisciplinary approach, exploring this history as presented in scholarly books and research articles, documentary films, music, and the visual and dramatic arts. Students will also practice the application of these comparative lessons to their own periods of historical and practical interest.