This thematic course for the GE programme will examine the way that cultural memory and historical events have been represented in art, literature,and film. Aesthetic representation is different from conventional historiography, and the course will explore how this way of recording the human past can be much more influential on cultural and political grounds. The course will choose one historical theme—such as colonialism, imperialism, industrialization, revolution, war, independence movements, communism, institutional reform, globalization, migration, feminism, etc.—as the topic of the class and encourage students to approach artistic representations of the past in a critical spirit. By comparing primary texts with the stories told by art, literature, and film, students will learn to distinguish the imagination of the past from historical reality, as well as the rhythm and pace of change from historical continuity.

CILO-1: Describe and explain how historical events and artistic representations of those events can clash in culturally and politically significant ways. CILO-2: Use critical and aesthetic tools to interpret history, film and literature. CILO-3: Describe and explain the cultural and ideological impacts of representing the past across various mediums of expression, from film to literature. CILO-4: Explain and analyze the role that cultural memory plays in art, literature, and film, a role that will be discussed in the context of the course's historical theme.