This course is designed with an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating both psychological and sociological dimensions. In terms of "trauma," in addition to introducing individual trauma, collective historical and cultural trauma is also discussed. Collective historical and cultural trauma, while including individual psychological pathology, focuses more on the collective experience of unjust violence, requiring explanations from a social structural perspective and questioning how to change such unjust social structures.

The course explores both personal trauma and collective trauma among survivors. The main content includes three themes. The first is about post-traumatic stress disorder, introducing its symptoms and principles of recovery therapy. The second focuses on betrayal trauma, discussing the betrayal inflicted by trusted individuals, leading survivors to overlook betrayal. It introduces two forms: relational betrayal and institutional betrayal. The third theme revolves around collective trauma, with three cases discussed: testimonial literature of Jewish survivors under the extreme authoritarianism of Nazi Germany; the February 28 Incident and White Terror rule under Taiwan's authoritarian regime; colonial trauma inflicted on Africa under French colonialism.

Related topics involve trauma memory and narrative, exploring the repression and recovery of traumatic memories, as well as the reconstruction or interpretation of memories in the narrative process. Additionally, it delves into the emotions and feelings of survivors or victims, including guilt, shame, inferiority complex, superiority complex, etc. Also, it addresses the extended victims, including victims' families and perpetrators' families, both of whom may experience trauma due to their close relationships. Finally, it focuses on healing through public transitional justice, emphasizing the need for genuine justice from public institutions to prevent survivors' resentment from turning into a cycle of revenge and to avoid society being perpetually entangled in the shadow of violence.

The teaching objectives of this course are as follows:

Firstly, to enable students to understand the various aspects of trauma and coping mechanisms of survivors.

Secondly, to guide students to use theoretical frameworks to interpret real social phenomena.

Thirdly, to cultivate students' understanding of historical trauma and empathetic attitudes.