Great War and Modern Memory

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this course students will be introduced to the general narrative of the First World War. From there, we will examine three different topics and eventually show how they are interrelated. First, we will study historiography; that is, the evolution of how historians have written about and understood the First World War. Students will quickly learn how historians work with narrative and elements of story-telling both to explain and to argue (with and against one another). Taking the idea of narrative as a point for opening up our understandings of the past, we will then examine works of fiction, memoires, and poetry that focus on the First World War. The Great War was distinguished by being a "People's War," which meant that all people of all classes fought side by side, farmers next to scholars, workers next to noblemen. There were thus many men at the front who were capable of recording what they saw and felt in both prose and poetry, leaving an extraordinary and unprecedented literary record of their experiences. Finally, students will study memorialization and public history work on the First World War. We will see how history-writing, literature, art, and memorialization are present in the way museums and memorials tell their own stories about trauma, heroism, social inequality, and - in the main - seek to impart understandings about the past. A trip to memorials and museums in London, Belgium, and France over fall break is an optional component for the course HIST 30055 / GE 33245 in the fall of 2019. The fees associated with travel will be no more than $3000. We are working on funding from various sources to reduce that amount significantly. This course requires an application to enroll. Students interested in the course should submit a paragraph to Professor John Deak, jdeak@nd.edu, stating the reasons for wishing to take the course.