HNRS-110 | War, Society, and Self

Full Title: War, Society, and Self: Reflections on the Human Condition

Topic Description:

This course is organized around the theme of war and the human experience. In this seminar we will study and compare Agincourt (1415) and the Hundred Years' War, the Somme (1916) and World War I, the Spanish Civil War (1936), and lastly, the Vietnam War (ca. 1968). While the focus will be on these wars, the general issues that we address will be broader in scope: Why do human beings go to war? What is the relationship between war and society, and to what extent are wars a reflection of the societies around them? What are the consequences of war? What is the experience of war like for those who participate in it? How do both participants and non-participants try to make sense of the experience of war? What is the relationship between war and heroism? How does one write about the experience of war? These and other questions will serve as the basis for our reflection on and discussion of war and the human experience.

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: March 2015