World War I and American Art

This year (2017) marks the centennial of the United States’ entry into World War I. How did the “Great War” change American culture? How do we remember World War I, and how might its cultural products inform American identity? How did artists react to social turmoil and violence? In this course, we will examine the art and artifacts of American involvement in World War I, from posters (“Uncle Sam Wants You!”), flag parades, paintings, and films to prostheses, monuments, and memorials, as well as the war’s effect on gender roles and race relations. How might Middlebury observe the one hundredth anniversary of the war? 3 hrs. lect.