Description
Throughout the teaching of modern warfare, across the board, we are encouraged to engage empathetically with the human cost of war. In narratives of the World Wars, the Vietnam War, and various other conflicts, we are generally (and rightly) presented with the costs of those conflicts, whether the faces of starving children, the rows of dead, or the faces of those who witnessed the horrors of trench life. However, when we turn to the teaching of ancient warfare, we find rather a different story. In narratives of ancient warfare, we are often met with statistics, battle tactics, and the contents of the sparse archaeological and (often pseudo-) historical accounts that survive to us. In this paper, I advocate for the usage of "subjunctive history", a term coined by Alan Bennett in his play, The History Boys, as an avenue through which we might creatively engage with and draw empathy to ancient warfare in the classroom, and, in this way, make those victims of ancient war just as present and impactful as those of whom we have photographs.| Period | 12 Dec 2023 → 15 Dec 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Europaeum 2023 Classics Colloquium: War and Trauma: Ancient and Modern Dialogues |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Bologna, ItalyShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Keywords
- warfare
- empathy
- education