HIST 350T(S) History, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Collective Memory

This tutorial, of interest to students of history, anthropology, sociology, and literary theory, will consider the social construction of historical memory. In particular, it will focus on the process by which individuals within society-and indeed whole societies-come to "remember" the past, both individually and collectively. The tutorial especially seeks to address the following questions: why and how do certain elements of "the past" become more appealing in the present than others; what is the nature of nostalgia, and why do some societies become more nostalgic about their past than others; what are the political implications of collective memory? The tutorial will begin by examining the theoretical origins of work on collective memory in Freudian psychology and Durkheimian anthropology. Next we will consider several "case studies" of collective nostalgia in the United States, particularly for the "good times" of the 1950s, on nostalgia in Britain for lost glories of the past, and on collective amnesia in Germany in regards to the Third Reich. Finally, we will consider the way in which museums help construct particular "usable" pasts in the service of collective memory. Each student in the tutorial will write and present orally an essay (7-10 pages) every other week on the reading for that week. Students not presenting an essay will be responsible for offering a critique of the work of their colleague.
Students will be evaluated on their written work, their oral presentations of that work, their analyses of their colleague's work and on a final, comprehensive essay that will address the themes addressed in the tutorial. Enrollment limited. Group B

Hour: WATERS