The First World War changed far more than the political map of Europe. It reshaped psychology, medicine, literature and the arts. Beginning with Pat Barker's acclaimed novel Regeneration, this course explores the real people and events that inspired it, alongside the groundbreaking work of psychologists, doctors, poets and artists whose experiences of war transformed twentieth-century thought. Participants will encounter figures including Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Australian artist Margaret Preston while discovering how trauma, creativity and resilience reshaped both individuals and society.

DELIVERY MODE

Face to face

COURSE RESOURCES

• "Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy" (Penguin)
• https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/ARC100.8.18/simple/
• World War One poets such as Wilfred Owen

COURSE OUTLINE

• Art of Beauty, Art of War. Learn about the writers, poets and painters just before the outbreak of WW1 and those who became famous because of the War.
• Learn about the role of artists and writers in military hospitals
• Learn about offical war artists and unofficial artists
• Learn about the birth of modern psychology
• Analyse why Pat Barker summed up the thinking of WW1
• Discuss why WW1 is still so prominent in our collective minds

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand the key texts of poetry, and writing and some art from WW1
• Know the names of some key thinkers and creatives from the period
• Have an understanding of the shifts in thinking about how to more humanely treat troops with shell shock
• Learn how artists shaped the way we see the War, and the world, now