AMST 319
“Citizenship,
Memory, Public History, and Cinematic Geopolitics”
Section 131; CRN 3102;
3 Credits; Day/Time: TR 6:00p-8:00p; Rm: KUY 304
Spring 2011: January
10 - March 19, 2011 (10-week term)
Syllabus
Information:
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Course Description: AMST 319
Reading: Required
Morris-Suzuki, Tessa, The Past Within Us: Media, Memory, History;
Rosenstone, Robert, Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to our Idea of History;
Bailey, Beth and David Farber, The First Strange Place: Race and Sex in World
War II Hawaii
and a
collection of articles that will make up an accessible and free Online
Course Reader
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact
of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please
contact on campus the KOKUA Program at (808) 956-7511 located at the
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Note on the format for the formal writing assignments: All material must be submitted typed,
double-spaced in 12-point Times or Times New Roman font. Your name, the course
number, date, and assignment name should appear on the top right corner of the
paper. Also, please number all the pages of the written assignments at the bottom
of the page. Papers and other assignments must be submitted on the assigned date.
Late and emailed papers will only be accepted in emergency circumstances.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLO): The Department of American Studies has established
SLOs for undergraduates in the program. The department’s goal is to ensure undergraduates
in AMST courses are able to reach these outcomes through courses such as this.
The department’s SLOs are:
1.
Substantial knowledge of American
history, society, and culture, as well as a basic appreciation of different scholarly
approaches to American Studies.
2.
Critical thinking skills necessary
to analyze a variety of cultural artifacts (literature, primary documents, film,
music, etc.), as well as historical and present-day sociopolitical issues.
3.
Competence in scholarly writing and
oral communication.
4.
Basic research skills, including
advanced research skills in one area of specialization (majors only).
This course is designed to contribute
to these SLOs through a critical analysis of primary documents, films, and monographs
on a variety of topics that engage contemporary American domestic issues.
Oral Communication Focus:
As an O Focus course, AMST 319 provides
students with extensive training, practice, and feedback in oral communication.
Each student will give oral reports, learn to listen actively, represent viewpoints
other than her/his own, and engage in democratic discourse. These activities will
take place in discussion sections and 40% of the final grade will be based on
them. Details: Learning how to speak means learning how to listen as well. Using
the form provided, the speaker receives feedback on many different levels and
from different sources.
1. First, the section marked “Instructor
Feedback to Speaker” (on the top right hand side of the form) will come directly
from me. I will assess the speakers overall bearing, articulation, delivery, etc.
I will also personally assess the speaker’s content – looking for appropriateness
of the material used to make his/her case. The instructor will grade the speaker
with a score between 1 and 10.
2. Second, (on the bottom right hand
side of the form) I will provide feedback to the evaluator. I will pay particular
attention to the evaluator’s listening and critical ability. I will be looking
for whether the listener got the salient points of the speaker. Now, it could
also be that the speaker may not have been very successful at making his/her point.
A close examination of the speaker’s performance will balance that reality out.
The instructor will grade the evaluator with a score between 1 and 10.
3. Third, (on the left hand side of
the form), the speaker will get feedback from a peer evaluator. As much as the
speaker will benefit from the peer critique, the whole object of the exercise
is to make the evaluator self-reflective of the kinds of things a viewer will
see when he/she (meaning the evaluator) speaks.
The evaluator will be asked to provide concrete suggestions so that the
speaker may be able to improve on his/her delivery. This multifaceted approach
engages three people at one time. Everyone will be asked to evaluate the speaker
on paper and at the last minute one member of the audience will be asked to articulate
his/her evaluation of the speaker. This process ensures that all those in the
audience are actively engaged as well.
Note on Academic Integrity: This course will deal with controversial issues, and over
the course of the semester, we will find that many of us hold different views.
This should not stop you from fully expressing your opinions and even challenge
your peers. However, please remain respectful of others’ viewpoints and avoid
mixing intellectual with personal attacks.
All of your writing must be your own. Be sure to cite where appropriate the
work of others. For an explanation of what constitutes plagiarism, please refer
to the section on academic integrity in the UH Manoa catalog. If you have questions
concerning citations and other issues in your writing, please contact me by email
at any time. See: http://www.catalog.hawaii.edu/about-uh/campus-policies1.htm
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[What the possible consequences of ignoring particular stakeholders?]
Link/Reading:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/calculating.html; http://ethicsops.com/UtilityTest.aspx
Introduction and Orientation: What is Public History?
http://ncph.org/cms/what-is-public-history/
Hour 1: Clips from Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994) 105 min. DVD 2564
A film about an artist and her monuments: the Vietnam Memorial Wall & the Civil Rights Fountain Memorial.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110480/
Hour 2: Discussion on Public History
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How much “Past” is enough? (E)
The Common Good Approach: How to Use the Common Good Test [How much ‘realism’ does the public need?]
Link/Reading:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/commongood.htm
http://ethicsops.com/CommonGood.aspx
Hour 1: Clips from Digging for Slaves: The Excavation of Slave Sites (1993) DVD 1869 50 min.
BBC-TV in association with Arts and Entertainment Network and Films for the Humanities & Sciences. This film examines the findings of excavations at slave quarters on Middleburg Plantation in
http://www.history.org/
[Colonial
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/
[Colonial
http://www.youtube.com/colonialwilliamsburg
[Mamie Gummer: Portraying Lady Dunmore]
Hour 2: Discussion on Mimesis
FIRST SHORT
ANSWER/Reflection posting on laulima
Week 2:
Disney on Trial: “Mickey Mouse” History, Museums, Displays, and Power
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January 18, 2011: Disney on Trial: “Mickey Mouse” History
(E)
The Virtue Approach: How to Use the Virtue and Character Test [Are all histories
equally treated?]
Link/Reading:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ethicsandvirtue.html;
http://ethicsops.com/CharacterVirtue.aspx
Hour 1: Clips from Mickey Mouse Monopoly (2002) DVD 2553
http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2008/03/disneys-america-theme-park-project.html
http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/112/studyguide_112.pdf
Hour 2: Discussion on Disney, Commercialism, and History
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January 20, 2011: Museums, Displays, & Power (E)
The Rights Approach: How to Use the Rights Test, How to Use the Exceptions
Test, How to Use the Choices Test
[How do we make sure that peoples concerns are met?]
Link/Reading:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/rights.html;
http://ethicsops.com/RightsTest.aspx;
http://ethicsops.com/exceptionstest.aspx;
http://ethicsops.com/choicestest.aspx
Hour 1: Clips from Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real
Human Bodies (2007) DVD 9892
“I
developed the Plastination technique at the University of Heidelberg’s Institute
of Anatomy in 1977, patented it between 1977 and 1982, and have been continually
improving the process ever since. […] That was on January 10, 1977, the day that
I decided to make Plastination the focus of my life.” Günter von Hagens
http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html
Hour 2: Discussion on Body
Worlds, Cultural Sensitivities, and Consensus or Dissensus?
FIRST PAPER DUE: ANALYTICAL ESSAY DUE
Week
3: Politics of Public History: Museums on Trial
The Fairness Approach: How to Use the Justice
or Fairness Test
Link/Reading:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/justice.html;
http://ethicsops.com/JusticeTest.aspx
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January 25, 2011: Enola Gay and the Atomic Bombing of
Hour 1: Clips from Enola
Gay and the Atomic Bombing of Japan (1995) VIDEOTAPE 12508
This is a documentary about the
droppings of the atomic bombs on
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185048/
Hour 2: Discussion on the Enola Gay, Paul Tibbets, and the Bomb
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January 27, 2011: White Light/Black Rain:
The Destruction of
Hour 1: Clips from White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (2007) 86 min.
An HBO Documentary Film, details the
human costs of atomic warfare and stands as a powerful warning that with enough
present-day nuclear weapons worldwide to equal 400,000 Hiroshimas, we cannot afford
to forget what happened on those two days in 1945.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0911010/
Second SHORT
ANSWER/Reflection posting on laulima
February 1, 2011: The Past is Not Dead
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Hour 1: Clips from Hotaru no haka 89 min. “Grave of the Fireflies”
–
A tragic film covering a young boy and his
little sister’s struggle to survive in
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095327/
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Hour 2: Clips from Hadashi no Gen 83 min. “Barefoot Gen” - International
(English title) and discussion
A powerful
statement against war, Barefoot Gen is a story about the effect of the atomic
bomb on a boy’s life and the lives of the Japanese people.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085218/
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February 3, 2011: Moving Pictures and Historical
Film
Hour 1: Moving Pictures
Clips from Back to
After the fall of the
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037522/
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Hour 2: The Historical Film
Clips from The Great Raid (2005) and discussion
132 min.
Taking place towards the end of WWII, 500 American Soldiers have been entrapped
in a camp for 3 years. Beginning to give up hope they will ever be rescued, a
group of Rangers goes on a dangerous mission to try and save them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326905/
SECOND PAPER DUE: INTERPRETIVE ESSAY
DUE
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February 8, 2011: Clips from Otoko-tachi no Yamato (Men of Yamato)
(2005) 145 min. “Yamato” - International (English
title) Makiko Uchida arrives in a southern Japanese port hoping to find a boat
that will take her to the final resting place of the Battleship Yamato on the
60th anniversary of its sinking. She is rebuffed by all until she reveals to Katsumi
Kamio that she is the daughter of Petty Officer Uchida. Kamio is surprised for
he thought unlike himself, Uchida had been lost when the Yamato was besieged and
sunk on April 7, 1945 by American aircraft which prevented its fulfilling a final
suicide mission against the American fleet battling to capture
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February 15, 2011:
Tora, Tora, Tora (1970)
Hour 1: Clips from Tora, Tora, Tora (1970) 144 min.
A dramatization of the Japanese
attack on
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473/
Hour 2: Discussion on Tora, Tora, Tora (1970)
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February 17, 2011:
Hour 1: Clips from Pearl Harbor (2001) 183 min.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213149/
Hour 2:
THIRD SHORT
ANSWER QUIZ/Reflection posting on laulima
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February 22, 2011: Clips from Nanking (2007) DVD 8232 88 min.
Nanking tells the story of the rape
of
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893356/
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March 1, 2011: Flags of our Fathers (2006)
Hour 1: Clips from Flags of our Fathers (2006) 132 min.
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/
Hour 2: Discussion on Flags of our Fathers (2006)
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March
3, 2011: Letters from
Hour
1: Clips from Letters from
The story of the battle of
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/
Hour 2: Discussion on Letters from
THIRD PAPER DUE: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
DUE
Week 9:
Saving and Examining Perilous Memories & Propaganda Film(s)
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March 8,
2011: Saving and Examining Perilous Memories
Hour 1: Clips from the USS Arizona Memorial orientation film,
Hour 2: Discussion
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March 10,
2011: Propaganda Film(s)
Hour 1: Clips from
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184254/;
http://www.archive.org/details/wwf_the_battle_of_china
Hour 2: Discussion
What I learned exercise (email) and
fourth short answer (outline - email Due)
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March 15, 2011: The Ongoing-Discussion
about War and War Memory
Hour 1: Clips from To End All Wars (2001) DVD and 125 min.
A true story about four Allied POWs who endure harsh treatment from their Japanese
captors during World War II while being forced to build a railroad through the
Burmese jungle. Based on the novel Through the Valley of Kwai by Ernest Gordon,
the crew ultimately finds true freedom by forgiving their enemies. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243609/
Hour 2: Discussion
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March 17, 2011: The Ongoing-Discussion
about War and War Memory
Hour 1: Viewing of an episode
from The Pacific (2010) is a 10-part television World
War II miniseries, produced by HBO, Seven Network
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374463/
Hour 2: Discussion
final paper due march 17, 2011:
choose
one: analytical, interpretive, or argumentative then Select a chapter from bailey and farber's
the first strange place and examine it along one (or more) of the items/sections
we discussed throughout the course. Pay particular attention to the imagery the
book.
please make sure to send me an outline so that I can ensure success.
bailey, beth and david faber. The
first strange place: race and sex in World War II Hawaii. Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins university press, 1992.
Optional Film (1): John Rabe (2009) 134 min.
A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese
during the
Optional Film (2): The
Atomic Café (1982) 86 min. Disturbing collection of 40s & 50s
Optional Film (3): Bataan (1943) 114 min.
Episodes of
“The Pacific”
1.
Robert Leckie and the 1st Marines
land on Guadalcanal and take part in the
2.
John Basilone and the 7th Marines
land on
3.
The 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal
is relieved and arrives in
4.
Eugene Sledge enlists in the Marines
and trains for combat, while Leckie and the 1st Marine Division are put into action
at
5.
Sledge and Leckie land with the 1st
Marine Division at Peleliu.
6.
The Marines move to capture Peleliu’s
vital airfield. Leckie is wounded by blast concussion and evacuated.
7.
Sledge and the 5th Marines move into
Peleliu’s Bloody Nose Ridge to face the Japanese.
8.
Basilone is transferred to the 5th
Marine Division and lands at
9.
Sledge and the 1st Marine Division
land at
10. Sledge
and Leckie return home after the Japanese surrender
List of “Other”
References
Crothers, Lane. Globalization, American Popular Culture.
Dittmer, Jason. Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and Identity.
Fujitani, Takashi, Geoffrey White, and Lisa
Yoneyama. “Introduction” pp 1-29. In Perilous Memories: The
Gallicchio, Marc S. “Introduction” pp 1-12.
In The Unpredictability of the Past: Memories
of the Asia-Pacific War in U.S./East Asian Relations. M. Gallicchio, ed.
Giroux, Henry A., and Grace Pollock. The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of
Innocence.
Hicks, George. The Comfort Women:
Horwitz, Tony. “Confederates in the Attic” pp 3-17
and “Strike the
Tent” pp 379-390. In Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished
Civil War.
Jager, Sheila Miyoshi, and Rana Mitter. “Introduction: Re-Envisioning
Levine, Lawrence. “Prologue” pp ix-xviii,
“Epilogue” pp 170-174 and “The Discipline and Furniture of the Mind:
The Clash Over the Classical Curriculum” pp 37-53. In The Opening of the American Mind: Canons, Culture, and
History.
Linenthal, Edward T. Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create
Lipschutz, Ronnie D. Political Economy, Capitalism, and Popular Culture.
Murakami, Haruki. Underground: The
Nash, Gary,
Charlotte Crabtree, and Ross Dunn. “In the Matter of History”
pp 3-24 and “Lessons
from the History Wars” pp 259-278. In History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the
Past.
Rosenberg, Emily S. A Date Which Will Live:
Rosenzweig,
Roy, and David Thelen. “Scenes
from a Survey” pp 1-14 and “The Presence of the Past: Patterns of Popular Historymaking” pp 15-36. In The Presence
of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life.
Schwartz, Barry. “Two Faces of Collective Memory” pp 1-25 and “The New Face of Collective Memory” pp 293-312. In Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National
Memory.
Seraphim, Franziska. “Relocating War Memory at Century’s End” pp 15-46. In Ruptured Histories: War, Memory, and the Post-Cold
War in
Shigematsu, Setsu and Keith L. Camacho. Militarized Currents: Toward a Decolonized
Future in
Sklar, Robert. Movie Made
Student Feeedback/Reflections
From the very first day of the class, public history was introduced to the class however only until the class activities have started that is when I became aware of the importance of this topic. Towards the end of the class I became aware that in my daily life I have encountered many aspects of the public history, for instance visiting national park, historical books, historical documentary, navigating historical websites and so on. In fact, public history is not a new phenomena rather it is a new concept used by historians to describe an existing event. Referring to my early argument that public history is not a new phenomenon rather it is a concept that we encounter on our daily activities. However the key point is, we take these daily experiences for granted without appreciating or questioning further what the purposes are and why this is offered to the public. To emphasize this further, we used Disneyland as a case study to see how multinational corporations such as Disneyland mediates American history. We discussed to what extent will Disneyland portray a truthful historical event and at whose best interest does it serve? My argument on this issue is that as a multinational corporate, Disneyland must first and foremost prioritize its economic benefits by representing a historical event to its audiences or consumer without excluding any of its target market. Furthermore Disneyland also cannot be held accountable to justify its responsibility in educational aspects, therefore audiences or consumer needs a critical thinking to examine what is offered to the public. Nowadays audiences are not passive in experiencing and observing the historical event that offered by the public historian in a historical site. I could argue that audiences attitude toward the museum is changing now. The museum used to be a place where visitor can experience contemplative without questioning further to what is offered but today museum also become a contested place. The museum has become a contested place because it cannot separate itself from the agenda of organizations (or corporations) endorsing the exhibition in the museum. Due to this reason, museum is no longer a shrine place because the endorsement parties have also placed their own agenda that needs to be portrayed to the public. This conflict of interest has ultimately spoiled the museum's fundamental functions. The exhibition in the museum also became a contested case since the public are participating in scrutinizing the objectivity of a historical event. For example the case of Enola Gay where veterans are involved in deciding what should be included and omitted from the exhibition. In this case, veterans have influenced how the commemoration should be exposed to the public and we as the public/audience see the commemoration through veteran's perspectives. What I can pickup from this is intentionality and capital symbol become a very essential issue for the museum and the exhibition to operate therefore it becomes a contested place. We also discussed further on the mediation of history, where we looked at the objectivity of the history through the mediation. At present Internet plays important role in the human being history. A key function of the Internet is invention of Worldwide web that can act as repository of vast information and provides high accessibility for the users. The Internet also facilitates users to manage the content, which users can edit, add and delete the content. Due to its advanced functions, Internet makes it becomes very popular in this era, Internet is an important medium in the public history where enormous information can be found and it has become a key concern for the public historian since users have ability to manipulate the content. But again the audiences or users must be rigorous to use the information that are available, and I would argue that every users must have a basic knowledge of what have been offered to avoid mislead information. The perception of public history is changing as the time passes by; places such as museum and exhibition are contested by public due to their objectivity of the mediation and their agenda in representing historical events. Today public audiences are actively participating in the historical mediation and historical narratives are also changing over time as it is affected by globalization and economic interests. The narratives are changing gradually from roughness level to moderate level depending on what are the goals that needs to be achieved. Movies also changing the narratives from time to time, representation of the parties that are involved in the historical events are elevated to a higher moral ground.In this class, I have become more aware of how history is being represented. I learnt that as history is re-written over time, the facts and objectivity become indistinguishable because of the agenda, capital symbol and power that imposes on historical events through mediation, intentionality and places of public history.
The one thing, the main thing, which I learned from taking this course, is that while remembering a historical event is important, it may not be nearly as important as how we remember that event. How we remember an event is based on the most popular images/narrative about the event that are presented to the public. Take for example, the story of the pilgrims and the Native American Indians. Disney, with its movie Pocahontas, and the historical narrative of Thanksgiving that many American children were exposed to has helped many people in the United States to have a romanticized view of what happened. As they get older and learn about the "real" history of the interactions between the Native American Indians and the Americans, it is not uncommon for people to glaze over it or not completely conceptualize the level of cruelty with which the Americans treated the Native Americans. This all due to their first, romanticized, view of their interactions. This class has encouraged me to become critical of historical films. It has taught me to question why the film was made, not just the time the movie was produced and released, but the film itself-why that story? It is also important to think about the overall message that the movie tries to give its viewers. Films about historical events can serve the purpose of getting the public to think about those events and in doing so, the public will view the world with the influence of the film playing in their mind. The other thing that I enjoyed about this class was learning about the rape of Nanking. I don't remember learning about the rape of Nanking until now and I'm grateful for becoming aware of it. Knowing about the rape of Nanking has changed the way I view the dropping of the atom bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Before now, I used to think that the dropping of the atom bombs was an unnecessarily harsh tactic used by the United States to beat Japan, but after learning about the rape of Nanking, I feel a little less sympathy towards the Japanese. This is not to say that I believe the US was justified in dropping of the atom bombs, just that I feel just a bit less negatively about the fact that it happened. I won't be surprised if, after this class, people start to think that I am unpatriotic after listening to my view of American actions not only in WWII but in other time periods as well. To the contrary, I think that being able to acknowledge certain things about American history and still being proud to live in the United States makes me more patriotic than someone who's ignorant of those events and is proud to live in the United States. After all, one cannot say that they truly love another person unless one knows everything about the other person and can still say that they love them-for their faults as well as their merits.
I learned that public history is the collaborative studying and practice of history in which the public works with historians to make events that occurred in the past relevant and useful to the public today. I also learned about Maya Lin, the young Chinese-American woman from Yale that designed the Vietnam Memorial and her struggle with multiple groups to support the narrative that her design conveyed. We discussed the power struggle that occurs when discussing the idea of who's opinion matters more when debating the contents of the final narrative that goes in to museums, memorials and even films. We also learned to question the idea of corporate education and the ramifications of its role in educating youth by critical analysis of the Walt Disney Company. We discussed how their movies confirm racial stereotypes and the many historical inaccuracies portrayed. We also talked about the companies overall lack of concern for their influence on the educational and social development of children. These inquiries lead us to question how much of the past is enough when creating narratives from memorials, museums and films. Furthermore, we also learned about museums as contested sites by discussing the Enola Gay narrative controversy. By doing this, we learned to question the creator's intentions and the societal context in which we are viewing any type of media. Tessa Morris-Suzuki and Robert Rosenstone brought to light multiple mediums in which the media influences how we remember history. We used these multiple mediums of film, photographs, and the internet to discuss their limitations in portraying the mostly elusive objective history.
I am very grateful to be a part of this class as I come to discuss and understand some significant topics that, I sometimes take it for granted about public history. First thing I learn in the first meeting was the Museum as Social arena. Talking about Museum, we have to question; does the Museum is simply a repository of cultural and historical treasure or what counts as culture or who has the power to assign value to cultural and historical production present to the public in Museum. I believe that every museum has its education mission of teaching history to the public; museum produces messages or meaningful statements and actions. But the common question that becomes the concern of academicians/scholars (some part of society) is the question of cultural representation. Whose culture is being represented? What culture is being represented? Whose history is being told? Somehow, museum is contested sites therefore there is still room for the historian and public to collaborate in trying to make a past useful to the public. Another lesson I learn in this class is that people view history differently, history is remembered in different ways and attitudes also varied from time to time. As historian Michael Kammen's view of "the historicity of historical consciousness", I contend that historical consciousness shifts from time to time and it affects the attitudes about the history. I come to understand how history is presented in movies, images, and words. Popular media have ability to access the history from different perspective because there is no objective truth. Rosenstone argues, history that is presented in the movies is problematic because films are inaccurate, falsifies, trivialized, less gravitas, fanaticize the history, and above all movie can only go with directors' flow. I share same conviction with Rosenstone that films offer us history as close narrative, films emotionalize, dramatize, and offer history as heroism and victory, but to some extent, we can still use movies to perceive the history. I think Rosenstone misses out the signs of times and decades. Tessa Morris-Suzuki argues that internet is the true site of public history where public has meaning in making history. I am in same boot with Suzuki that the past is not about objective but it is about emotion, the past is within us, and not dead. I also perceive history from movies we watched in the class; especially the same event can generate different narratives from different people. A good example is Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). Though it says that Flags of Our Father (2006) represents US perspectives about the Iwo Jima Battle and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) represents Japanese point of views but I believe that it's solely Eastwood point of view about the Iwo Jima battle. The last thoughtful experience, but not least, I take out from this class is about the politic of commemoration. Though it is a messy business but it's always interesting to discuss about museum, like Pearl Harbor. At last, I want to thank for your patience and kindness to guide us with thoughtful discussions and amazing class during 10 weeks. Much Mahalo.
Through
these last ten weeks of class, I had many chances to consider "what is the
true public history?" Until the semester started, my whole school life I
never really thought to question history books, however, now I am very curious
to find out the true history of Japan, above all because I am a Japanese in today's
history. Though my major in college is not history, as an educator I do feel that
I should not accept any information provided as completely truthful. I believe
that I should not have to teach my students things that are printed with confidence
and authority albeit historically misleading and fallacious. I would say that,
that is "public history." By that I mean, so much history has been rewritten
by others in order to bring conformity within the younger generations; which I
do not think is right. That is why while growing up in Japan I was not exposed
to contrasting perspectives of history, especially about the wars. Perhaps it
is that they did not want to talk about the negative aspects of Japanese history.
These occurrences shed a gainsaying light on the integrity of our educational
system, as well as on the Ministry of Education because it controls the publishing
of school textbooks in Japan.
Though I never had a chance to fully read the
books for the movies we watched, nevertheless our class discussions contrasting
the movie's interpretation of history to the books' were very interesting and
enlightening. It is always the case that movies have to omit historically relevant
information to make up for the "oohs" and "aahs" of the audience.
Still, I enjoy watching movies about history without much deep thought, and from
now on I will be a little more skeptical of the history they reproduce.
Everyone has a motive: When registering for this class I was expecting another boring history class about America filled with people, dates, and conflicts. It was to my surprise when I came to realize how much I was enjoying the class. It was an ideal fit for my learning style and I was capable of bringing facts to the forefront of my brain like I have never done before. Normally dates and facts escape my mind, leaving no impact behind them; and me only grasping the gist of the matter. But when movies are added, my passion for them transfers to the information at hand and is rarely forgotten. Now, as I have said in class, I am no history buff, void of much knowledge about any war. A blank slate you might say, and you ask what are we to take away from this class? Well besides the obvious information about the who, where, and when of wars, I can honestly say that I will take an open mind out of this session, I have learned too not just take the facts that are spoon-fed to us, but to actually ask questions; to dig deeper and get the bigger picture. Every side to a story has multiple other sides and who am I if those sides are not explored? I will no longer be a naïve individual who follows the masses. I will question everything I read and research every supposed history movie I watch. You have opened my mind to endless amounts of information and for that I thank you.
This class has been good in many ways. There are several points that I think this class is very useful. First, it empowers students to think critically about the history; how the history is being constructed, narrated and presented to the public. In the same line, it also enables students to ask questions about which narratives are included and which ones are excluded from the history. Second, this class introduces me a new concept, which is public history. By this, how the public is engaged in the making of history. In this process, it is important to have constructive debate and discussion that involves different segments of the society, to get their inputs about certain narratives. Third, this class is also empowers students to read films. By having such critical thinking, the students cannot watch films to entertain themselves only; but also to critically read it as a text. This is important, given that films have become a source of history. The film also has been used as an instrument to teach the public about the past. Within this context, certain narratives are included and certain narratives are excluded. Therefore, viewing films critically is very important in this regard. Finally, this class also provides critical thinking to understand the museums, as a site where the past is (re) produced and (re) presented to the public. As a historical site, the museum always becomes a site of contention between different narratives. So, having critical thinking and understanding about museum is very important to critically analyze the message that each museum wants to send through, and the message that we, as a visitor get through it. One activity that is part of this class is visiting the Pearl Harbor. This is an important one for various reasons. First of all, Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th 1941 has always been presented as the "Sneak Attack," and therefore it is used to justify the US entering into the World War II. Such representation implies that the US did not anticipate and did not know such plan to attack, and there were no reasons for the Japanese to do so. Yet, as many recent historians have argued, the US has been into war even before December 7th 1941. S, visiting this historical site is important to understand how the history is being reproduced and represent to the public through museums like Arizona Memorial, Missouri Battleship, and Pacific Aviation Museum. In general, all of these sites are the war machines in which, the victims of war are rebranded as hero, and freedom fighters. Moreover, as I can note from the entrance, where the history is being re-written, there is a sense of rationalization of war. By this, the re-presentation of war background at that time gives was that war was inevitable at that time given the industrial expansion of the Japanese at that time. On the Arizona memorial, it is supposed to be a site of mourning, where everyone should be thinking about those soldiers who become the victims of the war. But on the Missouri, it is a site of celebration where the US forced the Japanese to surrender "Unconditionally." So, these museums are the war machines of the United States that is still have powerful messages to its citizens. While these sites celebrate the US fighting during the war, it is hardly seen the Hawaiian representation in these sites. Hawaiians, who have fought to restore their sovereignty. They might have different perspective about what was going on, yet, it is hardly seen in these historical sites.
During my time in the American Studies course 319 America, Hawaii and World War II with Professor Miguel Llora, I have been enlightened in many ways. First, we started the semester off by challenging the idea of public history and the conflicts of interpreting a mediated past. We were given the opportunity to recognize that history is mediated through many different perspectives and principles such as pictures, movies, radio and television. I have realized that one must look to the source of where the history comes from and try to separate ideologies to be neutral. We examined Disney as a prime source for youths around the world to gather not only entertainment, but also a false idea of history. I was able to further understand the brainwashing and subliminal messages that effect children, especially the encouragement of the derogatory nature of women and people of color. The examination of the Body Worlds Exhibit and the paper we did about it was the most interesting part of the course. Before the course I had no idea about plastination or the exhibit and found it to be a controversial educational experience, as it was using artistic means to display the figures. Then by examining various museums and exhibits I was able to gain a better understanding of the process of meditation in history. The Engola Gay exhibit was one that I was unfamiliar with, but soon learned how it was a huge controversy to display the plane as it was the cause of such world record breaking catastrophe. The animated movies Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Barefoot Gen (1983) was an eye opening experience that made me realize how the past lives on through different media and continues to mutate according to desires of the future. This is exemplified in the anime films as they are currently the newest media, available online, yet visually disturbing and memorable even more so than the actual photographs. Also, the readings by Morris-Suzuki and Rosenstone were helpful in creating the broader understanding of mediated history. I have gained a new awareness to photographs as a powerful and silent depiction of an event or person as all other information is hidden out of frame. I began to change the trust I had in historical photographs as it seems like the photographers are the one in charge of retelling and recalling history for future generations, rather than the actual event. I always knew that movies can be displayed as propaganda, but never realized that photographs are not as truthful as they may appear. This realization dawned upon me when we discussed the picture in Morris-Suzuki's book The Past within Us of the abandoned child sitting on a railway platform during the rape of Nanking. This image was a powerful one as a child sits alone crying with rubble in the background. Yet, my heart and mind changed when I discovered how the picture could have been set up by the photographer who could have moved the child into its lone position. Another remarkable and interesting thing I learned in this course was the issue of the disclosure of the first flag raising in Iwo Jima. This was fascinating because it was a cover up by the US military to celebrate the second raising rather than the first, yet remained the main controversial focus of the War rather than the real issue of the brutalities, human rights violations and large number of deaths by Americans. This made me realize that the memories are in the eye of the beholder and the more positive issues will be better remembered than the unflattering ones, as they will be hidden. I will now look at history with a more careful eye and not be so quick to believe the propaganda that I am fed.
Nothing
interesting is like taking a class taught by Miguel Llora. It is full of excitement,
a lot of fan from watching movies and documentaries, talking (through class discussions
and presentations), and most of all the amount of work that we have to put into
the class through the readings and writings. Although one could see this as overloading,
I personally felt that it is worth the effort and time. I felt this class has
instilled in me a wealth of information that I will always treasure in my life.
In addition, the Instructor, Miguel Llora has also contributed a lot in providing
an environment that allows the exchange of ideas hence fosters learning to happen
smoothly. Not only that but, he has also contributed a lot in summarizing the
readings for us on a weekly basis. Furthermore I think the idea of using films
and readings for each class period is interesting because the films not only helps
us understand the readings easily but rather gives us as sense of seeing the extent
to which there are slight dissimilarities between the book and the film in terms
of content. I must also say that I really enjoyed watching the different films
shown in class especially the ones on wars. One of the many things that I appreciate
about this class is with the way it is structured: it allows us to look at a piece
of history in multiple perspectives as well as critically think about how and
why it happens.In addition, the techniques of critiquing films we covered in this
class also gives me an idea as well as realizing how corporations for instance,
Disney 'commodify' history to suit peoples wants while portraying an incomplete
or twisted fact. I never knew about this prior to taking this class. As a result
whenever I watch any film, I always have the feeling of doubt towards the films
completeness.My only recommendation for this class is with its emphases on the
Pacific. Since it covers a substantial amount of issues on the Second World War,
I think there should be a balance between the emphases on south-east-Asia and
the Pacific. By the Pacific I meant the "real Pacific," not Hawaii.
Hawaii is just part of it. Most of the Pacific war was fought in the south-west
Pacific region and the Micronesian region of the Pacific.
Overall, this is
an excellent class with an excellent instructor.
History is not old news. It isn't a bunch of names or dates. The study of history is the study of the significance an event has to each one of us. It's a contemporary process that becomes highly personalized. Because it can be so personal, there are many differing views and opinions. At many times these points of view can be very contentious. The most important thing I take away from the classes is this added individualized element to history. That it's not necessarily the story that is most important, but how everyone makes meaning and significance of the event that is the most crucial. This realization first started to develop in the readings of Suzuki and Rosenstone. Prior to reading them I had always thought of history texts as being rather objective. I understood some people disagreed about some facts here or there, but people all agreed that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and other events such as this. To me that was history. Suzuki and Rosenstone put more emphasis on the discussions that went on that debated the importance and significance of these events. As sides to the argument developed, Suzuki explained how each telling of a story was framed in many different and subtle ways. A photograph can say a lot, but sometimes what is not in the field of view says even more. Movies are edited and narrated with specific agendas in mind. As Rosenstone pointed out some of the inaccuracies of movies, but served to open up discussions on the topic, I could not help but follow suit. We looked at many different films on events and scrutinized many of the changes the filmmakers made to the "real" history. Looking at what they thought was kept and what they changed provided a little insight to what they valued about the history. Understanding what people value about history is the real trick in the game. Then things came together with some of the early heated debates in the class. It became clear that history was not just some static thing of the past. History is too personal to really be able to just sit back and have everyone look at an objective view of things. Events such as the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the battle of Iwo Jima, and even the various portrayals in Disney movies evoke strong emotions that cannot help but force people into taking sides. With that realization it became important to develop tools to deal with such strong feelings, to develop the process of public history. Seeing the failure of the Enola Gay exhibit really put into perspective what is at stake in public history. Looking again at the bad blood between Japan and China reinforces this as well. There is a very strong need to recognize all the different opinions on a historical event. I think a lot of the trouble arises when one view tries to become the main view. I think Suzuki would agree that no one view should be privileged over another. Multiple views from each side need to be maintained as this paints a fuller picture of history. There should be no one museum to represent the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. One museum should be dedicated to the soldiers who fought in the war, one that glorifies the achievement of the Enola Gay. At the same time there should be another museum dedicated to those who were caught in the blast and suffered through the nuclear attack. History is enriched by all the points of view and meanings it contains. It is important to represent and preserve all of them.
At the beginning of the semester I walked into AMST 319 not knowing what to expect. I was intrigued with the course title, America, Hawai'i, and WWII, but I had no idea that I would learn so much. In my mind, I believed that history was simply a recollection of the past. This class has taught me that it is much more than that and I have to be a critical thinker in order to undercover the big picture. To elaborate, it means that I have been changed and transformed to stop and analyze what I see, hear, and do. I find that I have to ask myself: Am I being driven by popular society? Am I thinking about perspective and bias? Am I being controlled or navigated by someone else? I like to believe that I have my own mind and can think for myself, but I believe that this class has taught me how easy it is to be steered by corporations, media, special interest groups, and the government. I admit, I fell into the brainwashing of the Disney Corporation. Some have money and strong financial and economic interest in keeping control over society and maintaining their position. The retelling of history involves making a point based on a particular perspective. Some of the best historical films and books have been exquisite in marketing their perspective and tugging at the hearts of humanitarians and warm-blooded individuals to make a point, as in Barefoot Gen (1983). At that point when emotions get involved, it then becomes even harder to remain objective.Lastly, this class has taught me to jump in and get involved. By engaging in the class discussion I have learned a great deal about respecting the opinions of others, despite their position of agreement or not. This was a life-changing class that will change the way I look at history and will change my process of thinking and seeing things through. This class pertained to real life. By far, the best class I have ever taken!
Throughout
the course of this short semester, I have gained a new perspective on history
in the Pacific. Before this course, I have to be honest and say that I have had
very few courses that have touched upon these historical events in great detail;
consequently, there was much to gain from taking this course, and I am pleasantly
surprised at the fun I had in the process. First, I thoroughly enjoyed talking
about perspectives and really diving into the controversies behind public history
and opinions. The Bodies exhibit and the Enola Gay were two class discussions
that are on the forefront of my mind when I think about my experience in the class.
I loved how we focused on the topic of 'respecting' public opinion whether or
not we believe it is correct. This is an important aspect of academia that is
easily forgotten, and so I thought it was an integral part of the beginning of
our class. Second, I really enjoyed discussing the feature films, Flags of our
Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). The juxtaposition of these two
films provided an excellent learning opportunity in many arenas. For me, I had
never read or seen either film, and both greatly enhanced my perception and understanding
of the perspectives involved in the war.
Finally, the greatest thing that
I have taken from this course is less about the history we learned, shared, and
discussed, and it was more about the people who were involved. I love the humanizing
perspective this class brings to the history we are taught from textbooks. It
allows students to reexamine personal ideas and conceptions about the way things
'happened'. There are two sides to every story, and this class really emphasized
and challenged me to think along these lines. Thank you for a wonderful course!
In my stint throughout college, you are, by far, the best 'history' teacher I
have come across.