Memory, History, and Identity in Europe is a three-credit hour honors seminar, focused on how history has informed identities in Central and Eastern Europe in the last 100 years and how institutions, artists and individuals arrange and change what is remembered and what is forgotten. Conducted over four weeks in Germany, Poland, and Hungary, this program offers participants the opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussion in a small group setting with IU faculty, visit historical sites and hear from expert researchers on weekly excursions, and explore how history leaves a mark on urban spaces and how identity is constituted and expressed in complex ways.
Spend four weeks studying history and remembrance in Germany and Hungary
Learn more about Memory, History, and Identity in Europe
July 7-August 2, 2025*
*All travel dates are tentative and subject to international travel restrictions.
December 3, 2024
| Hutton Honors Study Abroad Fair 3:00-5:00pm HHC Great Room |
Course Title: Memory, History, and Identity in Europe
Academic Director & Instructor: Peter Nemes
Syllabus Description: Over the course of four weeks, we will start in Budapest and arrive in Berlin, utilizing Indiana University’s Berlin Gateway, in an exploration of how history has informed identities in Europe in the last 100 years and how institutions, artists and individuals arrange and change what is remembered and what is forgotten. We will look at urban environments and monuments, examples from literature and film, museum exhibits and the people themselves who create, curate, and interact with all these elements to understand culture as the context of our lives that allows for meaningfulness to emerge. Central and Eastern Europe has been torn apart and reconstituted many times over and all those events leave a trace. We forget and we remember to create, control, and transmit identities for ourselves and for the next generations. How are Germans responsible? What constitutes a Jewish identity in Berlin or Budapest before or after the Holocaust? How can we learn from history? How can forms of memory creation be used to distort the impact of events? What is the connection between memory or identity and politics or ideology? What can traumatic events in the past teach us about the current rise of far-right ideologies? Are current refugees connected to the refugees of the past? To answer these questions, we will explore the markers and traces of memory in urban environments such as monuments, museums, and neighborhoods (for example: the Holocaust Memorial, the Reichstag and the Berlin Wall memorial in Berlin, as well as the Statue Park, War Memorial and the former Jewish ghetto area in Budapest) along with markers and traces of memory and identity in fictional and artistic accounts such as literature and cinema (both documentary and artistic). Ultimately, students will explore how the imaginary and the real are connected in the creation of identity in this intensive, immersive, and interdisciplinary class.
- Excursions in Budapest, Hungary will take place at the Hero’s Square, the War Memorial, Castle District, Sculpture Park, Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, the Holocaust Museum, and the Jewish District.
- Excursions in Krakow, Poland will include the Krakow Jewish Quarter and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, located on the site of the Nazi German Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland.
- Excursions in Berlin, Germany will include visits to the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe, Berlin Wall Museum, DDR Museum, and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, along with public spaces in the city.
- Additional cultural excursions will be planned as part of the program, including potential day trips to neighboring cities and regions in Hungary, Poland, and Germany.
Program participants will stay in hotels in Berlin, Krakow, and Budapest. The accommodations are conveniently located near shops, public transit, and program excursion sites.
Summer 2025 Program Fee - $3200*
The program fee includes airport transfers in country, accommodations in Berlin, Krakow, and Budapest, some meals, transportation to and from all excursion sites, entry fees to all museums and historical sites, student travel insurance, and administrative fees to cover program administrative costs.
*Program fee is subject to change due to unforeseeable circumstances.
IUB Tuition - 3 credit hours
The tuition cost for this program is based on IU Bloomington tuition. The amount of tuition will vary based on student resident status. See the Student Central website for more information on current tuition rates.
Additional Variable Costs
Variable costs are paid before and after you arrive in Europe as you pay for roundtrip international airfare, most meals, snacks, personal expenses, and independent travel outside the program. See the program fee sheet for more details.
Note: The program fee and tuition will appear on your bursar bill and are paid directly to IU. See the program fee sheet for more details.
Scholarships
All admitted program participants are awarded an automatic HIEP Hutton Honors Study Abroad Scholarship of $1000 applied directly to the program fee. No separate application is required.
Additionally, applicants to Hutton Honors Study Abroad programs may be considered for additional merit and need-based scholarships. If finances will be a barrier to participating in your study abroad experience, we invite you to apply for these awards. Please submit your application no later than your program's final application deadline.
Note: Program participants are not eligible to apply for the HIEP Grant.
Please see the IU Education Abroad Office website for more information on other available scholarships and financial aid opportunities.