Students discover new perspectives of World War II through participation in summer academy

Students discover new perspectives of World War II through participation in summer academy

Two Northwest Missouri State University students traveled to France during the summer to study World War II history and how the conflict is remembered from a European perspective.

Normandy Academy is a program for high school and college students hosted through the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Participants spend two days in New Orleans exploring the museum before traveling to Paris. They then spend a week in Bayeux, located in Normandy, visiting D-Day landing beaches and other World War II historical sites. The trip concludes with a day in Paris to broaden the historical context of the program.

Cody Iwig, a native of Urbandale, Iowa, participated on the summer experience after graduating from Northwest last spring with a bachelor's degree in social studies-history. He began teaching this fall at Dallas Center-Grimes Community High School in Iowa.

He said his coursework at Northwest helped him connect primary sources with the historical sites he visited during the trip.

"The value for me was I was able to extend my learning beyond the classroom in order to help my future students," Iwig said. "I currently teach U.S. history as one of my classes and plan to use some of the photos and videos I took on the trip to show to my students so they can see what these key areas look like today."

One of the sites participants visited was Église Saint-Côme-et-Saint-Damien in Normandy, a church that served as a field station during the war, where two U.S. medics treated both U.S. and German soldiers.

"This story was amazing to hear and to see the church as well," Iwig said. "We also got to meet the keeper of the church who was a little girl during the time of those events. Being able to ask her questions of what she remembers was an eye-opening experience."

Throughout the trip, participants also saw all five of the D-Day landing beaches, visited World War II cemeteries and talked to people who either witnessed D-Day or were affected by it.

"Incredible in every sense of the word," Nora Crowley, a senior history major from Kansas City, Missouri, said. "I feel like I've learned more about D-Day than I ever thought possible. I think that it's definitely going to stick with me for the rest of my life in several ways. There's the emotional aspect, and there were many parts of the trip that were incredibly emotional and incredibly humbling. To also go with a group of students who were also incredibly interested in World War II and interested in history was just phenomenal."

Crowley, who has gained extensive profession-based experience at Northwest, hopes to pursue a career in museum curation after completing her bachelor's degree. She said learning that many people affected by D-Day were her age and came from similar backgrounds will have a lasting impact on her and influence her future work.

"We had a very good tour guide named Thomas, and he really emphasized telling individual stories and sharing this very important human aspect of history," Crowley said.

To conclude the trip, participants selected a U.S. World War II veteran from a list compiled by the National World War II Museum. They researched the individual and paid tribute to them at the Normandy American Cemetery.

"The person that I happened to pick was a man named Major Dewey Newhart, and he was a student at Northwest for two years," Crowley said. "That was a completely random thing. I don't think the museum did that on purpose, but that was also just a final, really fascinating hit."

Iwig said the experience gave him a broader understanding of the different perspectives on World War II, as well as a deeper appreciation for the personal accounts of historical events.

"The two main things I will carry with me are the differences and similarities between the U.S. and European culture when it comes to modern day and how they remember World War II," Iwig said. "Second, I would say the historical element because we were able to learn more about individual stories from our guide, Thomas, and as a requirement, we had to research a U.S. veteran, which allowed all of us to build a deeper personal relationship with the trip."