Rhetoric of Public Memory

Catalog description

Memory is a central part of classical rhetoric. Rhetoricians for centuries have considered how memory functions rhetorically and how memory contributes to persuasion. Every culture has means of creating and maintaining collective memory. How does that memory get constructed? Where is that memory visible in public places? In this course, we will concern ourselves not with individual memory, but with the construction of public memory in the context of the United States. In this work, we will focus specifically and intentionally on the rhetoric of public memory, including how language, space, material objects, and even performance is used to construct and argue for specific ways to remember various events, moments, groups, and individuals in this culture. Prerequisite: ENG 204 or permission of the instructor. (Offered every even spring term)