HIST 417 Seminar: World War I Narratives
In the century following the end of the First World War, numerous memoirists, poets, novelists, and filmmakers have grappled with the causes and consequences of the twentieth century's first global conflict. This seminar explores the historical contexts of the narratives, written and filmic, generated both by those who experienced the war directly as well as those who engaged imaginatively with it. We begin the course with common reading on key themes of the war: gender, shellshock, race, the home front, and the history of emotions. From that reading, students will develop an individual research project based on a primary text or texts, culminating in a 15-20 page paper and a presentation before the class.