HIST358 - Contesting the Past: Historical Memory and the Struggle over Truth and Representation

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Academic Year 2005/2006

Contesting the Past: Historical Memory and the Struggle over Truth and Representation
HIST 358 FA

Crosslistings:
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.

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

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.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Romano,Renee Christine

Times: .M..... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: PAC136;

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 16)

SR. major: 5 Jr. major: 5

SR. non-major: 3 Jr. non-major: 3 SO: 0 FR: X

Special Attributes:

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006