Writing War, Remembrance, and Reconciliation

An exciting History writing class exploring the impact of war and conflict on our society!

War is a distinct category of human experience and among the most profound. It has been a basic fact of American history from the start and a constant in American life since the 9/11 attacks. Yet our collective experience and memory of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars has been both distant and narrow. Only approximately 1% of the public has served in the military during these conflicts, and for most of the rest of the citizenry, the wars have largely been abstractions that impinged minimally if at all on their lives. Yet for those who have served in or experienced these (and other) conflicts and for those around them, the burdens of war, in many cases, have been immense. To the end of easing the burdens of those who served in and experienced war, and to better informing the public as to the nature of the struggles fought in their name, the Department of History, with support from the SDSU Barron Veterans Center, offers HIST 390W “Writing War, Remembrance, and Reconciliation” for SDSU students.

This course seeks to enable student veterans, military allies and others affected by events of war (especially refugees) to effectively tell their stories via close readings of assigned texts and work-shopped writing projects. If you have a story to tell about the experience of war and its aftermath we can help you tell it in an empathetic, trusting, and non-judgmental environment. The format will be that of a small group writing workshop featuring peer critiques. This course satisfies the upper division Graduate Writing Assessment requirement.

The Spring 2019 Course will be held on Thursdays from 4pm to 6:40pm.

For more information about the course, please contact Professor William Weeks at wweeks@sdsu.edu.