1. the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in . . .
2. Background
This project is an
interdisciplinary, inter-grade
experimental classroom designed to
enhance and extend student learning
about The Great War and how it
changed
humanity, religion, society, and
culture. the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
3. Disciplines
• Literature: a world perspective
– We will pursue meaning through
British, German, and French War texts, as well as
literature from other countries (excluding the
United States) and use these vehicles to color the
historical record.
• History: an American perspective
– We will obtain full knowledge of the
times, places, and causes of the conflict as it
pertains to U.S. policy and participation, and use
that information to penetrate the artistic
the great war:
renderings of the War.
art, fact, and artifact
4. Mission
We seek to pinpoint, through art, fact, and
artifact, the propellant forces that hurled
peace-loving citizens forward into bellicose
vises and moral vices that crushed body and
spirit. And through this discovery, we will
search the fire in the heart of humanity
that, while extinguished in more than nine
million souls, smoldered on in the blackened
hearts of men; fixing humankind on a modern
trajectory of disillusionment.
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
5. devices
• Sacrifice
• Death
• Life
• Irony
• Paradox
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
7. Resources
• The World War I Museum
– Displays
– Archives
• Union Station
• Nelson-Atkins Museum*
• National Archives*
• President Harry S. Truman Library
• Winston Churchill Museum*
• Amtrak
• Crosby Kemper*
• Peter Gladden
• Raphael Hotel
• Kansas City Star*
• Tivoli Theater*
the great war:
* Indicates resources being explored
art, fact, and artifact
8. Attachés
• Cherie Kelly
– National World War I Museum
• Tim Brice
– Raphael Hotel
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
9. Experience
In order to frame the experience, we plan to:
• Break students into fire-teams of 3 persons. Fire-teams must stay together
at all times and share a suite at the Raphael. Fire-teams can be aggregated
into a larger group, such as a squad or a platoon.
• Assign each student the identity of a participant in the War, and give each
copies of letters from this individual. At the end of the trip, each student
will learn whether his War personality lived or died.
• Give each fire-team member a polo shirt with the insignia of a unit that
served in the War, and require students to learn the history of that unit.
• Assignments, or “missions” will be distributed in kraft envelopes and bear
markings in the manner of the period. Each student will have the
opportunity to be promoted in rank according to his or her behavior and
performance. (Rubrics will be crafted for each “mission”.)
Due diligence is still being done on this
portion of the project. If you or someone
you know would like to help organize the
framework listed above, please contact
Patrick, Howie, or Keith.
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
10. missions
Thus far, ideas for missions include:
• Blog entries
• Flash essays
• Photo contest
• Prompt-driven journaling
• Draft application
• Design-a-poster
• Write a speech for peace
• Learn a song and sing-a-long
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
11. Itinerary
• Departure: Kirkwood Amtrak*
gives students the general
flavor of travel
for soldiers and citizens
of that era
• Accommodations: Raphael Hotel,
circa 1928
• Events: Custom tours, readings,
missions, movies, discussions, rare
documents, writing, camaraderie
*A school bus will follow Amtrak and the great war:
provide service during the trip and on the
way home. art, fact, and artifact
12. Next
• Align texts and focus for trip
– Due Monday, January 3, 2012
• Firm up list of available resources
– Due Friday, January 6, 2012
• Finalize budget
– Due Wednesday, January 11, 2012
• Construct missions
– Due Wednesday, January 18, 2012
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
13. To be continued . . .
the great war:
art, fact, and artifact
