Instructor:
How do cities remember? How do buildings, monuments and spaces become ways in which cities negotiate their past and position in history? Who makes decision about what should be remembered and forgotten?
This course explores how memory shapes urban life. We explore how cities craft their self-image, express desires, attempt to heal and create cohesion, and explore their future through their biographies and commemoration of their past. We also investigate how and why cities choose to forget, erase aspects of their past or rewrite it. We seek to account for all the actors involved in these acts of remembrance from individuals to local communities, informal and formal organizations and the State. We are particularly interested in exploring different, overlapping or conflicting ways in which individuals and groups map their memories in the urban fabric. Examples will be drawn from ancient and modern sites across the globe with special attention to Charlottesville.