ENGL 4671 - How the Civil War Haunts America

(crosslisted) AMST 4671
(HB) (LA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Permission of instructor required. Offered in Washington, D.C.

S. Samuels.

The Civil War haunts the United States. Its legacy still drives protests over confederate monuments. Nineteenth-century writers and artists confronted war in their own backyards. Taking advantage of our location in Washington, we will consider how present day memorials and re-enactments keep the war alive, as well as reading 19th century poetry and novels. Looking at photographs and political cartoons gives a visual resonance to the iconography of national violence. We will visit archives at the Library of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the National Museum of African American History. And we will read newspaper coverage from the 2018-2019 debates over monuments. This class satisfies the pre-1900 requirement in American Studies as well as the capstone seminar requirement.