In the United States as well as in other countries, public rituals, memorials, museums and many other media represent selected events (and the persons symbolizing them), thus helping to disseminate ideas about a social group's past and values, which consequently enhances group identity. Such groups can be the nation or influential groups within it, such as a region, an ethnicity, or war veterans. In every era, such representations in the public space have been contested, and the struggles over the memorialization of the past have always said at least as much about current power structures as they have about the past. In this class, students will first learn about forms and functions of cultural memory. Then they will read and discuss texts that describe the struggles in the U.S. over the memo?rial?ization of events such as the Civil War, slavery, the Holocaust, World War II, and the Vietnam War. There will also be space for students to explore the representations of various events in different media such as film, museums, and online representations of memorials, re-enactments etc., and to pursue their own projects. Those interested in British history may also look at memorials in the U.K.
A READER with relevant texts will be provided in the copy shop.
Admission settings
The course is part of admission "Anmeldung gesperrt (global)".
