Katrina and Popular Memory

Catalog description

This reading seminar will explore the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans through the lens of popular memory. Readings will be drawn primarily from first-hand accounts of the storm. These memoirs, personal narratives, and biographies can enrich our understanding of human experience and social issues and provide insights into the larger social, economic, and cultural forces that shaped how individuals experienced the tragedy. We will also consider how individuals experienced those forces differently depending on such factors as race, gender, and class. Through careful readings of the texts, we will examine the extent to which the speakers live. We will also consider the use of first-hand accounts as historical sources and the benefits and pitfalls inherent in these sources. Other readings explore how Katrina was and continues to be understood collectively.