Chasing the Red Dragon and Finding Immortality: A Student Inspired Journey

In 2004 I challenged by Honors Program students to build a memorial for those who had been killed in the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq; the result exceeded all expectations but also sparked my desire to study and use memorials and national memory in my curriculum.  With help from a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar in Rome and an NEH Teaching Development Fellowship, I designed and built a comprehensive, searchable online database of war memorials and cemeteries to which students and colleagues from around the world contribute and which I incorporate into the teaching of my World Civilizations and US history courses through a variety of assignments.  I employ memorials to compare culture and perception around the world and throughout history.  Thus, I began a fascinating journey in which I spent many hours exploring often forgotten sites of memory and extended periods among those who had long been deceased and possibly forgotten; I was saddened and inspired.  While chasing an unusual memorial, I also found an even deeper meaning and inspiration for what is now a lifelong project.   My presentation will showcase my project and website from original inspiration to concept as well as the story of using war memorials as a primary resource.  My presentation will demonstrate how student inspiration and technology have created a global learning environment in my history courses and how the resource engages students who also continue to help build it.