HIST 195 - Topics in History for First-years and Sophomores

FDR: HU
Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
Credits: 3 credits in Fall or Winter; 4 credits in Spring

Prerequisite: Varies with topic. Selected topic or problem in history. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Fall 2016, HIST 195A-01: The War That Will End War (3). Prerequisite: First-year or sophomore class standing. Idealists in Britain and the USA justified participation in the First World War by arguing that it would end all wars, but the horrific reality of battle confounded their expectations. In this writing-intensive seminar, we analyze four very different literary accounts of the experience of war: an autobiography of a British officer who became a pacifist in the trenches; an autobiographical novel by a patriotic German who never lost faith in his nation’s cause; a collection of poems by British women who served as munitions workers or nurses; and the memoir of the “Arab Revolt” against Ottoman Turkish rule by “Lawrence of Arabia”. Students are asked to ponder what lessons can be learned today from the “Great War” of 1914-1918. (HU) Patch.