Witnessing, Remembrance, Commemoration

Memory and its expressions structure and inform many aspects of contemporary visual culture. This seminar pursues readings about memory and witnessing chosen from among the works of such writers as Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, Frances Yates, Maurice Halbwachs, and the authors of the Book of Genesis, as well as writings about commemoration by James Young and Pierre Nora, among others. Discussions apply these readings to the study of witnessing and memorializing as artistic practices, and examine visual realizations of such works, including some monuments and memorials near campus, but with a nonexclusive emphasis on Jewish examples, such as videos in the Fortunoff archive. Student projects center on theory or on special cases of witnessing or commemoration, ritual, memorial practice, and monuments, whether built, written, aural, electronic, or played out on the streets.

Taught by Margaret Olin Spring 2016