Monuments, Citizenship, and Belonging

Struggles over racist monuments—from defacement, to unsanctioned removal by protesters, to laws passed to “protect” statues—raise important questions about the political impact of commemoration. From the perspective of political theory, this course will analyze the civic work of monuments. Some of the key questions we will grapple with include: Do monuments matter? What civic function do they serve? When should they be removed? Thinking critically about monuments will allow students to consider how public memory is produced, whom it should represent, and what forms of commemoration are appropriate in diverse democratic societies.