Commemorating Cities

The past remains integral to us all, individually and collectively. We must concede the ancients their place... but their past is not simply back there, in a separate and foreign country, it is assimilated in ourselves and resurrected in an ever-changing present. (Lowenthal)

In remembering, we are called to engage with the past, with history. While remembering signals more than an act of cognitive recall, what does it mean to remember? Who chooses what is worth remembering? In what forms does memory take shape?

This course will examine the above questions through an interdisciplinary exploration of the interwoven themes of community, commemoration, conscience, and place-making. In attending to sites and technologies of memory within local, national, and international contexts, this course explores the interconnected themes of remembering and forgetting, drawing from the disciplinary toolkit of the humanities and social sciences. In so doing, this course will grapple with questions regarding “appropriate” uses of the past and the systems of power that guide who and what is remembered as well as how. Students will analyze and engage with a range of texts, from monuments and museums to archives and public art, in an effort to consider how public commemoration has and can alternately reinforce as well as resist unequal and oppressive structures.

Inside the Classroom

Using the cities of Richmond, Virginia and Montgomery, Alabama as our primary case studies, we will explore the strategies and tactics of community activists and policymakers, past and present, designed to mold citywide identities. Through place-based study, students will gain a deeper understanding of urban history and policy, while honing critical reading, writing, and speaking skills by developing greater facility with different platforms of creative expression.

This course will be linked with Dr. Amy Howard’s “Just Cities?” SSIR. While functioning independently, both classes will have the opportunity to connect with and learn from both professors and one another, to engage the course themes through a range of disciplinary lenses, to deepen their understanding of Richmond, and to forge connections to other cities across the United States. Both classes will meet periodically throughout the course of the year, travel together, and collaborate on their final projects.

Outside the Classroom

Students will connect and apply their in-class materials and discussions with experiential learning in Richmond and Montgomery. While the focus of “Commemorating Cities” will be placed on power and public memory, Dr. Howard’s class will focus upon urban history and policy. Collaboratively, we imagine the classes operating as powerful complements.

Throughout the fall semester, we will explore Monument Avenue, the Devil’s Half Acre, the Capitol, Hollywood Cemetery, and East End cemetery, among other sites in Richmond to ground the four central thematics of the course: community, commemoration, conscience, and place-making.

During fall break, we will travel to Montgomery, Alabama to visit the new Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial to Peace and Justice, the Civil Rights Memorial Center, Rosa Parks Library and Museum, and the Alabama State Capitol to compare and connect the histories, commemorative efforts, and continuing challenges confronting the two former Confederate cities.

Research and Capstone Project

Students will develop final collaborative group projects working with Dr. Howard’s class that apply course materials to community-based needs. Envisioned as responsive rather than prescriptive, these projects will be designed to support community organizations’ efforts in Richmond.