Art and Trauma

When faced with trauma and atrocity, what can art do? This class focuses on the role of representation in relation to trauma, particularly with the theoretical concept of post-memory in mind (the trauma of those who did not directly experience the event). We will predominantly examine the 20th Century and some of its cataclysmic events as they have been imaged by artists, including painters, printmakers, sculptors, graphic novelists, and photographers. The course will appeal to anyone interested in how art can facilitate or impede individual and collective memory, and how we deal with or repress events (historical amnesia), and Truth and Reconciliation. It will also be useful for students intending to work in organizations that advocate for and empower marginalized populations.