University Program in Cultural Studies

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CULTURES OF MEMORY AND HISTORY RESEARCH GROUP

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About CMH
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Events 

Current Readings 

Memory Studies has gained a life of its own at the university, crossing disciplines and schools, as issues of traumatic recall, historical witness, commemoration, and individual and collective testimonial have gained attention and salience.  This research group is intended first of all to gather colleagues invested in the study of memory processes and practices so that we can learn from each other and begin to define the parameters of study here.  It is also intended to allow us to pursue intersections among our work:  to address disciplinary limits and conflicts; to gain new perspectives; to learn entirely new approaches to similar topics; and to enhance individual scholarship with collective investigation. 

The group will share home bases in the University Program in Cultural Studies and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.  It will complement existing working groups in Science and Technology, Cultures of Politics, and Cultures of Economy.  It welcomes faculty and graduate student participants from across the university—including those interested in, for instance, the anthropology of political witness; remembering and forgetting as oppositional history; the representation of the self/subject in narrative memory; developments in cognitive psychology and psychiatric approaches to traumatic memory; conflicts over memory, witness, and the law in historical and contemporary contexts.

 As a research arm of the UPCS, the group’s work will be framed by questions that concern scholars in the wide-ranging field of Cultural Studies, for example:  How is memory affected by complex material, social, and cultural relationships?  How does it reflect and intervene on contingent structures of power?  How can remembering or even forgetting answer to demanding international scenarios?  How are various claims on identity (nationalist, gender/sexed, classed, raced) negotiated in the process of what Annette Kuhn calls “memory work”?   These questions are intended to be generative of both disciplinary critique and revision.

The work of the Cultures of Memory and History Research Group remains as yet wide open, its direction to be determined by participants. 

With the support of the UPCS, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, possibilities include:

1.  roundtable presentation and exchange of current projects

2.  common reading and discussion, possibly in conjunction with presentations

3.  development of collaborative projects (among faculty, possibly to include graduate and undergraduate students)

4.  articulating a network related courses, informally and/or as part of developing a General Education “cluster”

5.  development of working papers, small conferences, speakers and/or lecture series, in affiliation with scholars and similar projects at other institutions 

6.  identification and organization of “subgroup” interests

7.  pursuit and preparation of grant applications for sustained support of a Memory Studies initiative.



Contact

To join or for more information, contact:  Stace Treat. 
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CMH Faculty Supervisor:  Della Pollock
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Events

Meeting:  Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
University Room, Hyde Hall, IAH
Program:  "Hang It Out To Dry:  Katrina's Spun Tales"
Visiting artist Danielle Vignes explores the aftermath of Katrina in St. Bernard's Parish, LA, in a one-person show based on narratives and community stories gathered from residents.

Public Performances
"Hang It Out To Dry:  Katrina's Spun Tales"
Swain Hall, Thursday Sept. 13 - Friday Sept. 14
Tickets available through Memorial Hall Box Office and at the door, $7.
Sponsored by IAH, UPCS, the Center for the Study of the American South, and the Department of Communication Studies.

Upcoming Meetings

Wednesday, Oct. 3  2:30-4:30  IAH Hyde Hall

Wednesday, October 24 3:00-4:30 IAH Hyde Hall 

Wednesday, November 7 2:30-4:30 IAH Hyde Hall

SPRING 2008

Wednesday, January 30 2:30-3:30 IAH Hyde Hall  

Wednesday, March 5  2:30-4:30 IAH Hyde Hall

Wednesday, March 26 2:30-4:30 IAH Hyde Hall 

Wednesday, April 16 2:30-4:30 IAH Hyde Hall




Current Readings


 

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