Course: Collective Memory Studies

« Back
Course title Collective Memory Studies
Course code KSA/CMS
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study 2
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 3
Language of instruction English
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Czarnecki Szczepan Pavel, Mgr.
Course content
Course outline 1. What is "Collective Memory"? 2. Collective Memory: Principles of Remembering and Forgetting 3. Transmitting Social Memories 4. National Memory and Collective Identity 5. Collective Amnesia (construction of silence, denial and forgetting) 6. Diasporic Memories and Heritage Tourism 7. Diasporic Memories and Hybrid Identities 8. Family Memories 9. Traumatic Memory and Postmemory 10. Artistic Representation of Postmemory 11. Historic Monumets and museums as a Site of Memory 12. Public Memorials of Traumatic Events 13. Concept of Nostalgia in memory studies

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture, Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
  • Homework for Teaching - 50 hours per semester
  • Preparation for the Course Credit - 25 hours per semester
  • Semestral Work - 25 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to familiarize students with the issues of collective memory, providing them with a theoretical and methodological framework to analyse collective memory and tools for critically understanding how social memory is constructed, transmitted or silenced (construction of silence, denial and forgetting) During the course students will study both: the theoretical approach to understand what collective memory is and what it means to remember for nations, genders, cultures and ethnic groups. Also, students will explore the meaning and the role of politics of memory and the role of political agents in the process. The second part of the course will present concrete historical examples that will be used to highlight some of the theories and concepts. The main attention will be paid to the countries of the CEE region region.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: 1) explain the main concepts and theoretical approaches within collective memory studies; 2) understand the processes through which collective memory is constructed, transmitted, transformed, and silenced; 3) analyse the mechanisms of social remembering, forgetting, denial, and the construction of silence; 4) apply basic methodological approaches used in the study of collective memory; 5) critically reflect on the role of memory in shaping national, ethnic, cultural, and gender identities; 6) explain the significance of memory politics and the role of political actors in shaping public interpretations of the past; 7) analyse selected cases of memory conflicts and memory politics in Central and Eastern Europe; 8) independently interpret and critically evaluate academic literature in the field of memory studies.
Prerequisites
As this is an introductory course, there are no general entry requirements. However, since the course is taught in English, a good command of English is required.

Assessment methods and criteria
Essay

Regular active participation in the seminar during semester, reading of the literature
Recommended literature
  • Assmann Aleida. Memory, Individual and Collective. .
  • Assmann Jan. Colective Memory and Cultural Identity. .
  • Burke Peter. History as Social Memory. .
  • Foucault Michael. Film in Popular Memory: An Interview with Michael Foucault. .
  • Halbwachs Maurice. On Collective Memory. .
  • Olick, Jeffrey K.; Vinitzky-Seroussi Verend & Levyx Daniel eds. The Collective Memory Reader. .


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Sociology (2019) Category: Social sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Sociology (2019) Category: Social sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Sociology (2019) Category: Social sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Sociology (2024) Category: Social sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Sociology (2024) Category: Social sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Sociology (2019) Category: Social sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: -