Students in this course will examine monuments, cultural centers, and museums as sites of discourse, of inclusion and exclusion, and of nation-building. Using case studies from across North America and exploring both the elements of public history sites as well as the contested histories that informed their creation, this course calls into question the ideas of indigeneity, memory, victimhood, and national identity that inform the sites we consider. Specific questions that will shape students’ readings of the following sources include: Who should decide which (and whose) perspectives shape a public history site? Can and should a public history include every perspective on a narrative/event/group of people? How do public history narratives include and exclude certain people in their scope? How do nations use public history to build consensus and unity, but also to justify or expunge wrongdoing?
