Contesting the Past: Historical Memory and the Struggle over Truth and Representation
HIST 358
Fall 2009 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 301 |
The great southern writer William Faulkner once remarked, "The past isn't dead. It isn't even past." Faulkner recognized the importance, the immediacy, the "presentness" of the past in contemporary southern, and, indeed, American culture. Representations of the past play a critical role in our present-day world. This upper-level seminar explores the representation of the American past in public monuments, visual images, films, museums, theme parks, and commemorative memorialization practices. We will explore why representations of the past matter and will particularly think about what the kinds of political work representations of the past do in the present. The course will also examine the ways in which historical memory influences the construction of individual, regional, and national identities. The class will particularly focus on how historical "truth" is constructed in particular representations of the past and how memorialization is itself a process, and often a contested one. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Natalie Zemon Davis, SLAVES ON SCREEN
Richard Flores, REMEMBERING THE ALAMO: MEMORY, MODERNITY AND THE MASTER SYMBOL
Kenneth Foote, SHADOWED GROUND: AMERICA'S LANDSCAPE OF VIOLENCE AND TRAGEDY
Richard Handler and Eric Gable, THE NEW HISTORY IN AN OLD MUSEUM: CREATING THE PAST AT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
Tony Horwitz, CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC
Sanford Levinson, WRITTEN IN STONE: PUBLIC MONUMENTS IN CHANGING SOCIETIES
Edward Linenthal, PRESERVING MEMORY: THE STRUGGLE TO CREATE AMERICA'S HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
Emily Rosenberg, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE: PEARL HARBOR IN AMERICAN MEMORY
Kirk Savage, STANDING SOLDIERS, KNEELING SLAVES: RACE, WAR, AND MONUMENT IN NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly response papers; group oral presentation; final research paper |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
There will be two required field trips for the course, times to be scheduled. The cost for the two field trips will be approximately $15.00. |
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