First-Year Seminars 110RR - Remembering as Reconciliation

We explore how memorialization and reconciliation take place in societies that have experienced extreme violence. How do survivors, perpetrators and their descendants record the experience of atrocity through testimonials and memorials in ways that contrast with 'official' national narratives of the past? In what ways does memorialization end cycles of violence without re-triggering trauma? How does restorative justice, for example, address feelings of despair or guilt that get passed down from one generation to another? Our transnational study will include examples from Germany, Japan, Rwanda, and Cambodia primarily, with other examples included based on student interest.

First-year students only, by placement.