PY3067 Social Memory
Final essay due: May 13, 2024
Length of assignment: 3-4,000 words.
In this essay, students are challenged to think about the meaning and resonances of the
past in the present. Reading the newspaper or watching film or television, we are
constantly bombarded with interpretations of the past and what the past should mean to
us.
I want students to ask: How is the past used and instrumentalized? How and why is the
past represented in the way that it is?
I suggest that students begin with the notion of “present pasts” but there is some latitude
in the kind research that you might carry out. I am available for discussion and
consultation.
As part of their research, students may choose to document a memory place or museum,
conduct an ethnography of a museum or tourist site, analyze how a historical event is
presented in film or social media forums, carry out a scholarly investigation of the
memory of a historical figure, engage in a discussion of a relevant theoretical or
empirical problem in the literature.
Some questions to consider: What is the relationship between personal and collective
memory? How do collective narratives become part of our personal story? What is the
purpose of public memory? Does public memory achieve its goals? How?
All projects should include 10-15 pages of written analysis and at least six scholarly,
beyond course readings, that directly address your question. In addition, you should use
eight sources, at a minimum, from class readings. In other words, your bibliography
should include at least 14 sources that you use in your thinking and writing and cited in-
text and in the bibliography. Use both indirect and direct citations–do not overquote.
More sources:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/5/3/73
https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vkc-uvbLy8EC&oi=fnd&pg=PA171&dq=%2Bthe%2Bcollective%2Bmemory%2Bof%2Bprincess%2Bdiana&ots=O3yQyqwHCg&sig=kCozRsKnLyLIXyQ4tI7nQDAZuEQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20collective%20memory%20of%20princess%20diana&f=false
https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2TKrBgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=the%2Bcollective%2Bmemory%2Bof%2Bprincess%2Bdiana%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2Bmedia&ots=bQWQYfnQpL&sig=kI6f7y6N95IZj20VxsOT6dZPdP0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20collective%20memory%20of%20princess%20diana%20from%20the%20media&f=false
https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=BxhwAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&ots=WI2gHx0EsV&sig=cmZ6ql_EVRkr_PH21hNvJIgJ24U&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=collective%20memory&f=false
https://communication.iresearchnet.com/media/collective-memory-and-the-media/
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Death-of-a-princess%3A-the-press%2C-the-public-and-the-Jenkins/0468acaeb772978672691a9a3b9568787045b96e
