GOVT 4373 - The Politics of National Memory

Credit(s): 3

This course uses the National Mall, which we define as the area between Arlington National Cemetery and Capitol Hill, as a classroom, textbook, and laboratory to explore and interrogate the stories that the United States tells about itself. The course focuses on the politics of national memory by fostering an ongoing, critical conversation-in class, in discussion groups, and beyond the academic setting-about the narratives that underlie the American experience. Along with visiting many of these sites, students will use historical analysis, sciencereports; a range of art forms-poetry, fiction, theater, sculpture, video and other visual media-as well as primary texts to inform and stimulate their thinking. As the semester proceeds, students are asked to reflect upon and explore their personal experience of the National Mall, and many of the structures that define Washington and national memory today.
Repeated: No Prerequisite Course(s): GOVT 2305 and GOVT 2306 Non-Course Prerequisite(s):
Acceptance into the Archer Fellowship program of the Archer Center of the UT System.
Registration Restriction by Classification
Junior