American Identities in Public Memorials


Collage of public memorial sites including WWI memorial, George Floyd mural, "Say Their Names" graveyard event, Jewish memorial, Martin Luther King memorial, and more

American Identities in Public Memorials

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Rebekah Ayock
PhD Candidate, Department of American Studies HASTAC Scholar University of Kansas
GIS/Mapping Digital Storytelling Pedagogy

Overview

American Identities in Public Memorials hosts memory studies projects for the introductory American Studies course at the University of Kansas, "American Identities." For these projects, students research public memorials in their communities, considering how these memorials work to serve or counter hegemonic identity formation. In the summer of 2019, students wrote blog posts based on in-person fieldwork. In the summer of 2020, students completed a mapping project and a similar blog project based on digital research. These projects allow students to explore the topic of memorialization broadly in relation to the themes of the class while learning various digital humanities and public-facing writing skills.