HIST 735 - History and Memory

In the past few decades, historians have debated over the relation of memory to history. Historians have asked what they can learn by studying what is remembered, “mis-remembered” and silenced in historical narratives. How is memory (and history) constructed, transmitted, interpreted and altered over time? How do public and private understandings of history related to interpretations sanctioned by the state? This course will explore history and memory from a multidisciplinary perspective, incorporating works by anthropologists, literary critics and sociologists. Possible themes include the memory of the Holocaust, the American Revolution, slavery and race relations, the Civil War, the World Wars, the atomic bomb and the civil rights movement.