Catastrophic Memories

How do people remember traumatic events? How do those memories impact American politics and priorities in the present? How might they guide goals for the future? And what roles can History play in that process? In this course we will examine how two great catastrophes—the American Civil War and the Second World War—have been remembered over time and space. We will consider what roles those historical memories play in American society, how our collective memories are formed, and what makes them change. To do so, we will consider a broad range of sources—major films, historical fiction, popular non-fiction, and historical scholarship. Students end by examining one facet or feature of these historical memories of their choosing.



Connor Williams (Middlebury '08.5) is a historian, speaker, writer, and consultant. In 2021 and 2022 he served the United States Congress as Lead Historian for its Naming Commission, removing Confederate honors from all Army Forts and Department of Defense assets, while leading nationwide discussions on the historic roles that the American Civil War has played, could play, and perhaps should play in our historic memory. As a consultant, he has worked with many organizations on how to ethically and effectively reconcile and repair their difficult and complex institutional legacies of enslavement, white supremacy, and historical violence, including at Yale University and Sewanee: The University of the South. He is currently writing two books of popular history, both under contract with St. Martin’s Press in New York./