Publication Date

December 1, 1994

Perspectives Section

AHA Annual Meeting

On Sunday, January 8, the AHA Teaching Division and the World History Association will sponsor an all day workshop, “Legacies of the Second World War: Teaching about Germany and Japan,” that will provide local teachers with one unit of graduate credit through St. Xavier University. The workshop will examine the legacies of World War II in Germany and Japan with a particular focus on the way responsibility for the war and war crimes are viewed in these two countries 50 years afterward. Participants will explore how each country has reconciled itself to its past. Session details are noted on page 112 of the Program.

Terri Stirling (St. Xavier Univ.) will chair the workshop, which is divided into two sessions. The first, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., will focus on Germany. Carol Pixton (Polytechnic School, Pasadena, Calif.) will discuss “Nazism: The Past That Will Not Pass Away.” The Historikerstreit, the debate among German historians about the place of Nazism in the German past, will be examined and a slide lecture concerning the use of art in fascist Germany will be presented. Participants will discuss how the past influences the present as living memory.

In the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. session, Haruko Taya Cook (Marymount Coll.) and Theodore F. Cook, Jr. (William Paterson Coll.) will focus on Japan in a presentation entitled “Coming to Terms with Japan’s Pacific and Asian War.” This session will explore how the country has come to terms with its role in the war and how Japanese notions of collective and individual responsibility have evolved. There will be a particular focus on the use of oral history in the classroom, as well as films, artwork, and literature.

In both sessions, presenters will provide documents, suggested activities, and visual materials particularly useful to teachers. Suggested teaching strategies and a selected bibliography will also be provided in each section.

To register for the course or to receive additional details, contact IRI/Skylight, 200 E. Wood St., Suite #274, Palantine, IL 60067. (708) 991-6300.

Interested individuals should cite the following course information:

Instructor: Terri Stirling
IRI Course # U-C32-420-4117W
Date: January 8, 1995
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m
Location: Chicago Hilton, Astoria Room
Credit Hours: 1
Tuition cost: $145

Please note that payment, in U.S. dollars only, may be made to IRI/Skylight by check or credit card (MasterCard and Visa only, include number and expiration date). Record the following required information with your inquiry: name, social security number, addresses, phone numbers, program name and number, date, and site as listed above.