HIS 295-04 - Special Topic: Historical Trauma, Memory, and Identity in East Asia

4 credits (Spring)

It is inconceivable to talk about contemporary America without mentioning 9/11. In the same way that this event has defied understanding, and continues to produce an emotionally lived sense of loss today, East Asian nations have also experienced traumas that have helped to define them. Could we talk about modern Korea without the Korean War, Japan without Hiroshima, or China without the Cultural Revolution? In lectures and discussions we will examine how historical traumas from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been remembered, and the ways in which they have shaped individual and collective identities over time.

Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Mayo