Unit name | Combat Motivation: Why Do Soldiers Fight? (Level H Reflective History) |
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Unit code | HIST38008 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. McLellan |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. |
Co-requisites |
None. |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit takes as its starting point, Joanne Bourke's recent book An Intimate History of Killing. Bourke claims that soldiers fight because of a visceral enjoyment of face-to-face combat. This is certainly one explanation for the soldier's decision to remain in the front line. But other factors play a role too: training, fear, ideology, and the importance of 'primary groups'. Students will be encouraged to reflect upon the similarities and differences between various groups of soldiers: conscripts, volunteer armies, mercenaries, and so on. What are the differences between male and female soldiers? How can we explain the phenomena of desertion and trauma? And what about the involvement of soldiers in mass killing of civilians - do such perpetrators have a distinctive motivation for their actions? And what, if anything, distinguishes historical contributions to these debates from those written by psychologists, military analysts, journalists, and the soldiers themselves?
Aims:
Reflective history is identified in the Subject Benchmarking Statement as an important skill. Whilst students will reflect on their work in all of their units the aim of this unit will be to focus on that reflective practice and to enable students to carry it forward in conjunction with a particular historical subject matter which will fit in with their overall portfolio of subject/period/theme-based units.
1 x 24 hour seen exam