WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2006-2007       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
Contesting the Past: Historical Memory and the Struggle over Truth and Representation
HIST 358
Spring 2007 not offered
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 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.

Essential Capabilities: None
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: None

Last Updated on DEC-08-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459