HIST 4200: History and Trauma

Course Description

This research seminar focuses on the key problems related to the concept of trauma and history. It covers in-depth examples of historical events, such as genocides or natural and man-made disasters that affected societies in a deeply traumatic way. While analyzing the nature of these events, we also ask about the ways individuals and societies remember, how various generations deal with the difficult past, and what strategies they employ as a response. We ask about the sociological and cultural significance of memory and oblivion; suffering and heroism; repression and any sense of guilt. In addition to examining various repercussions of a difficult past, we also ask about how historians approach the questions of historical trauma – what questions they ask, what sources they use, and which tools allow them to connect the complex past with the present. (OC).