How the Arts Bring Authenticity, Relevance, and Engagement to World War One Studies—A Reflection and Response

This joint essay examines the use of the arts as a powerful pathway into the academic study of the First World War. The article discusses the creation and performance of three works – dance, multimedia theatre, and music – along with the use of these works as companion pieces to the traditionally taught history of the war. The use of original writings (poetry, novels, journals, memoirs) from individuals whose lives were caught up in the Great War informs and brings authenticity to artistic interpretations of the wartime experience. This both deepens students’ historical understanding and encourages their critical inquiry, empathy, and interdisciplinary learning. An integrated approach to the study of the First World War engages students on multiple levels, to think critically about the nature of war and conflict, and to see this history as relevant to their own time. Development of performance pieces also brings to life a broader, far more inclusive understanding of the Great War’s impacts, by focusing on women’s diverse wartime experiences, for example, and a clear awareness of cultural and geopolitical implications extending well beyond the battlefields of the European front lines. The approach has pedagogical significance in drawing on theories of ‘multiple intelligences’, its ability both to tap into and to exploit for advantage students’ multiple learning abilities and modes. Further, it provides pathways to explore history with both emotional and scholarly engagement. Those pathways offer a living link to the past and opportunities to project students’ insights forward with relevance to their own lives and times. Students’ participation in and responses to these works – works performed in secondary school and institutions of higher learning – demonstrate the continuing resonance of artistic form in interpreting the human experience of this war

Exploit · First world war · Geopolitics · The arts · World history · World War II · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Philosophy, History, and Historiography · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact

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  James Campbell, James Scott Campbell•New Literary History•1999

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