Collective Memory Formation and the Humanities

FAIN: AE-256371-17

Everett Community College (Everett, WA 98201-1390)
Steven Tobias (Project Director: January 2017 to October 2022)

A two-year project to support professional development seminars with the goal of creating interdisciplinary learning units about trauma and collective memory.

Everett Community College (EvCC) proposes to create collaborative development opportunities for faculty to leverage the humanities in teaching themes related to contemporary issues of national concern. Titled, “Collective Memory and the Transformative Power of the Humanities,” this project will bring together 6 to 8 EvCC faculty members in history, literature, philosophy, English, anthropology, and the performing arts in discussion-development seminars using historical texts, classic and contemporary literature, non-fiction, and film, to explore how the public’s collective memory of major traumatic events is shaped and solidified, and how the humanities impact the framework through which Americans ultimately understand historical events — slavery, the Holocaust, Native removal — and contemporary such as military conflicts, sectarian conflict and refugee crises. The goal is to create learning units for students in Humanities electives and increase appreciate of the discipline.

Media Coverage

EvCC course: Traumatic history and present-day relationships (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Kari Bray
Publication: The Everett Herald
Date: 1/5/2018
Abstract: EVERETT — An instructor at Everett Community College is looking to spark conversations about how people remember the past, and the way it shapes identities and relationships today. The project has earned a $90,285 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The money is to be stretched over two years to create curriculum and bring in expert speakers.
URL: http://https://www.heraldnet.com/news/evcc-instructor-awarded-90k-grant/