Race, Violence & Memory

Catalog description

In the last generation, historians, literary scholars, and other humanists have intensified the study of historical memory and commemoration, even as public demonstrations, debates, and legislation over historical markers and monuments have proliferated. This course examines the ways that Americans have remembered, forgotten, and argued over violent episodes that have played important roles in their history. We will examine three aspects of historical memory: how individuals, institutions, and movements created and silenced historical memories; how these memories were embodied in the commemorative landscape; and how memories and public landscapes have changed over time.