Nicole Suetterlin (Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures)
First-Year Seminar 63L | 4 Credits (Fall 2024) | CANVAS SITE
Wednesday, 03:00 PM–05:00 PM
How do we respond to a traumatic event? Denial, acceptance, blame, reconciliation; there are many stances we can take toward a harmful act we have experienced or committed in the past. When entire populations have suffered or perpetrated crimes against humanity, the question of how to deal with this traumatic past can spark a full-blown memory war such as the one currently raging in the U.S. over Confederate monuments. In this seminar, we explore how the catastrophic events of the Holocaust, slavery, and apartheid affect the way we think and act as individuals, groups and citizens today. What power do literature and the arts have in bringing peace to a society at war with its past? Materials include acclaimed American, German, and South African writers such as Toni Morrison, Paul Celan, and Sindiwe Magona; human rights philosopher Hannah Arendt; comedian Trevor Noah; and civil rights lawyer and Harvard Law School graduate Bryan Stevenson, who has been fighting racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system for the past three decades. Topics include literature about the Holocaust, slavery, and apartheid; Germanys and South Africas recent ethical turn in memory culture; reconciliation and reparation; mass incarceration; punitive vs. restorative justice; social justice.
Note: This seminar includes a Zoom workshop with Jermaine Fowler, author of The Humanity Archive (2022), a compelling collection of long-overlooked stories of Black contributors to American history; a movie screening in Week 10 or 11; and a visit to the Harvard Art Museums in Week 10.