Listed in: Colloquia, as COLQ-345
Ellen R. Boucher (Section 01)
The destructive capabilities of war weapons expanded exponentially in the twentieth century, from the advent of aerial bombing and gas attacks through the threat of nuclear annihilation. As the targeting of civilians became accepted military practice and the lines between battlefield and home front blurred, the question of how ordinary people could prepare for the unimaginable became the focus of heated public debate. This Mellon research seminar investigates the changing ways in which survival, both individual and societal, was conceived, defined, and practiced in Britain and the United States during the twentieth century. It follows the theme of survival through a variety of topics, including science fiction accounts of future wars, civilian responses to aerial bombing and gas warfare, civil defense programs, campaigns for nuclear disarmament, and popular forms of survivalism. In addition, it will engage with the methodologies and theoretical insights emerging from new scholarship on the history of emotions, seeking to trace the impact of certain collective emotional states – such as fear, anxiety, or paranoia – on politics, society, and culture. This course contains a significant research component designed to introduce students to the concepts and skills involved in archival analysis. It is part of a model of tutorials at Amherst designed to enable students to engage in substantive research with faculty.
Open to sophomores and juniors interested in research. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 6 students. Spring semester. Professor Boucher.
If Overenrolled: Preference will be given to students likely to engage in senior honors or independent research projects.
Section 01
Tu 01:00 PM - 03:30 PM MCLS 230
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At Home and Under Fire: Air Raids and Culture in Britain from the Great War to the Blitz | Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012 | Grayzel, Susan | TBD | |||
| The Morbid Age: Britain and the Crisis of Civilization, 1919-1939 | London: Penguin, 2009 | Overy, Richard | TBD | |||
| Which People's War?: National Identity and Citizenship in Wartime Britain | Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003 | Rose, Sonya | TBD | |||
| Nine Wartime Lives: Mass Observation and the Making of the Modern Self | Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011 | Hinton, James | TBD | |||
| On the Beach | New York: Vintage, 2010 | Shute, Nevil | TBD | |||
| Stages of Emergency: Cold War Nuclear Civil Defense | Durham: Duke Univ. Press, 2007 | Davis, Tracy | TBD | |||
| One Nation Underground: The Fallout Shelter in American Culture | New York: NYU Press, 2001 | Rose, Kenneth | TBD |