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TUT
100.20
American
Memorials and the Politics of Memory
Fall
2004
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Tuesday
& Thursday 8:00-9:50
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Mears
115
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Sarah
J. Purcell
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Office:
Mears 316
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Phone:
269-3091
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E-mail:
PURCELL@grinnell.edu
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Office Hours:
Tues. & Wed. 10-12; Thurs. 10-11 & 1-3; and by appointment
Please come
see me during office hours or make an appointment. Feel free to call
or e-mail me any time if you have problems or questions.
Course
Description: In the post-September 11 United States, public memory
has taken on heightened social importance. Plans for several September
11 memorials are well under way, and the public recollection and commemoration
of the events of September 11 have taken on a large role in American political
discourse. Why does the American public feel the need to commemorate
sacrifice, and why is there a debate over the proper form of public memory?
This tutorial
will explore these questions and will put the current debate in the context
of a long tradition of public memorials in America. Students will investigate
how Americans have often defined important matters such as national identity,
politics, and race in the process of building memorials that celebrate
the past. We will analyze formal commemorations such as war memorials
(including the Bunker Hill Monument and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial),
museums, and national parks; popular culture commemorations in graffiti,
rap music, and on the web; and proposals for new kinds of monuments in
the twenty-first century. We will investigate how public memory has been
and continues to be politicized.
Texts:
All students
are required to purchase a Mon.-Fri. subscription to the New York Times
through the College Book Store.
Course Pack
of articles (available for sale in the College Book Store)
Kristin
Hass, Carried to the Wall: American Memory and the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial (University of California, 1998)
Edward Linenthal,
The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory (Oxford,
2001)
Andrea Lunsford,
Easy Writer, 2nd Edition (Bedford/ St. Martin, 2002)
Thomas J.
Brown, The Public Art of Civil War Commemoration
Student
Responsibilities:
Tutorial
is a collaborative enterprise, so it is very important for all students
to participate fully in class. This means attending class having done
the reading, ready and willing to share your ideas. We will be exploring
the specific topic of American memorials, and we will also simultaneously
be working on improving our writing, analytical, and oral skills.
Students
will participate in a variety of activities and discussions outside of
class, both formally and informally. The most notable of these will be
the use of the Blackboard on-line discussion forum. All students must
post a contribution at least once a week on the on-line discussion forum.
From time to time the entire class will be asked to post contributions
to a specific discussion. Guidelines and instructions for using the Blackboard
forum will be distributed in class.
Students
in this class will complete a variety of writing assignments, ranging
from one paragraph to the final 5-7 page paper. All assignments must
be turned in on time and in good order. Unless otherwise indicated, all
papers must be typed, double-spaced, in a 10 or 12-point font with footnotes
or endnotes in University of Chicago style. Additional paper guidelines
will be discussed in class.
Because
class time is so important to this course, regular attendance is essential.
You should not miss class unless you are ill or have another emergency.
Chronic lateness will cause problems. If you miss class or are habitually
late without a good explanation, your performance and grade in this class
will suffer severely. If you need to miss class for sickness, emergency,
extra-curricular activity, or athletics, let Ms. Purcell know.
Grinnell
College grants reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities.
If you require an accommodation due to a disability, please alert Ms.
Purcell during the first week of class so arrangements can be made.
Schedule
and Assignments
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Thursday,
Aug. 26
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Discussion
of Memorials and September 11
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Reading
Due:
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Dan
Gilgoff, “A Delicate Dance over 9/11,” U.S. News & World
Report March 22, 2004 (Vol. 136, Issue 10); David Dunlap, “5,201
Ideas for 9/11 Memorial, From the Sublime to the Less So,” New
York Times, February 20, 2004; Memorial website http://www.wtcsitememorial.org ;
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation http://www.renewnyc.com/
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Tuesday,
Aug. 31
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Memory,
Memorials, and History
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Reading
Due:
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Peter
Burk, “History as Social Memory” PACKET; Jack Hitt, “The American
Way of Dealing with Death,” New York Times, August 18, 2002;
Caryn James, “The Appeal of Public Sorrow,” New York Times,
June 10, 2004
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Thursday,
Sept. 2
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Library
Session MEET IN LIBRARY
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FRIDAY,
SEPT. 3
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4:15
REVISED PARAGRAPH DUE IN MS. PURCELL’S BOX
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Tuesday,
Sept. 7
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How
to read the New York Times, bring your newspaper to class
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Thursday,
Sept. 9
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The
Bunker Hill Monument
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Reading
Due:
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Purcell,
Sealed with Blood, Chapter 5 excerpt
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Tuesday,
Sept. 14
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Media
critique for the anniversary of September 11
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MEDIA
CRITIQUE DUE IN CLASS
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Thursday,
Sept. 16
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Re-imagining
the Bunker Hill Monument
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Reading
Due:
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Newspaper
articles on Wodizcko projection
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Tuesday,
Sept. 21
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Civil
War, Race, and Monuments
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Reading
Due:
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Kirk
Savage, “The Politics of Memory: Black Emancipation and the Civil
War Monument,” in PACKET; Brown, Public Art, vii-56
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Thursday,
Sept. 23
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Civil
War, Race, and Monuments
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Reading
Due:
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Brown,
Public Art, 57-78
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*Saturday,
Sept. 25
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Field
trip to Des Moines *Meet in Mears parking lot 10:00 a.m.
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Background
Reading in PACKET:
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Louise
Rosenfield Noun, “Harriet Ketchum, Resolute Artist,” The Palimpsest,
May/June 1986: 70-79; Louise Rosenfield Noun, “The Iowa Soldiers’
and Sailors’ Monument,” The Palimpsest, May/June 1986: 80-93
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Tuesday,
Sept. 28
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Civil
War, Race, and Monuments
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Reading
Due:
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Brown,
Public Art, 79-170
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EXCHANGE
PAPER DRAFTS IN CLASS
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Thursday,
Sept. 30
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Peer
Review of Paper drafts
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Tuesday,
Oct. 5
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Papers
Due 4:15 p.m. in Ms. Purcell’s box
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Thursday,
Oct. 7
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Memorializing
World War II
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Reading
Due:
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Edward
Tabor Linenthal, “Pearl Harbor,” PACKET; Articles on World War II
memorial
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Tuesday,
Oct. 12
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United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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Explore
website:
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http://www.ushmm.org/; Edward Tabor Linenthal,
“The Boundaries of Memory, The United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum,” American Quarterly 46 (1996): 406-433 J-STOR
E-Reserve
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Thursday,
Oct. 14
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Oral
presentations on Grinnell memorials MEET AT 8:00
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Fall
Break Oct. 16-24
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Tuesday,
Oct. 26
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The
Vietnam War and Popular Culture
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Reading
Due:
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John
Hellman, “The Vietnam Film and American Memory,” PACKET
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FILM:
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“The
Deer Hunter” (1978) 183 minutes place and time TBA
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Thursday,
Oct. 28
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Discuss:
“The Deer Hunter” (Possible meeting in Library)
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Tuesday,
Nov. 2
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American
Memory and the Vietnam Memorial
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Reading
Due:
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Kristin
Ann Hass, Carried to the Wall
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FILM:
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“Maya
Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision” (1994) 83 minutes place and time
TBA
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Thursday,
Nov. 4
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Discuss:
“Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision.”
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FRIDAY,
NOV. 8 4:15 p.m. PAPER DUE IN MS. PURCELL’S BOX
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Tuesday,
Nov. 9
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Oklahoma
City and American Memory
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Reading
Due:
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Edward
T. Linenthal, The Unfinished Bombing, pp. ix-108
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Thursday,
Nov. 11
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Reading
Due: Edward T. Linenthal, The Unfinished Bombing, pp. 109-241
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Tuesday,
Nov. 16
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Hip
Hop Memory: Tupac Shakur
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PACKET:
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Derek
I.M. Gilbert (aka D-Knowledge) “Reflections on the Life and Death
of 2Pac: “Keep on Livin’” in Tough Love: The Life and Death of
Tupac Shakur, ed. Michael Datcher and Kwame Alexander (Alexandria,
VA: Black Words, 1997), pp. 64-72; Michael Eric Dyson, Holler
If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur (New York: Basic
Civitas, 2001), pp. 247-268
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Thursday,
Nov. 18
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Web
Presentations on murals, graffiti, and memory
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Tuesday,
Nov. 23
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Film:
“Tupac: Resurrection” (2003) 90 min. MEET AT 8:00
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Discuss
Amazon.com reviews of the film
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Thursday,
Nov. 25
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THANKSGIVING
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Tuesday,
Nov. 30
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Small
Group paper meetings
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Thursday,
Dec. 2
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Small
Group paper meetings
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Tuesday,
Dec. 7
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5-7
PAGE PAPER DUE IN CLASS
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Thursday,
Dec. 9
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The
Politics of Memory
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Exam
Week: December 13-17
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August 24, 2004
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