 |
 |
The Art of Memory:
Collective and
Individual
THURSDAYS, in AS -158-A
September 10, 2pm
PANEL PRESENTATION: AN INTRODUCTION:
September 17, 5pm
CHRISTOPHER WIELGOS, English
Memento (2000)
September 24, 2pm
ERIN ZIMMER, Biology
“The Biological Foundations of Short Term and Long Term Memory”
October 1, 2pm
Dr. Edna Kantorovitz Carter Southard (Earlham College)
“National Museums and Sites of Memory: Divided Memory and the Holocaust in Vilnius, Lithuania”
October 15, 2pm
DOMINIC COLONNA, Theology
“Remembering, Reproduction, and Theological Value: Religious art of Mexican immigrants in New Mexico”
October 22, 2pm
CHRISTOPHER WIELGOS, English
“12 Monkeys” “La Jatte”
October 29, 2pm
JOHN GREENWOOD, Psychology
“ El Dia de los Muertos: A sophisticated Pre-literate Use of Family Memories for Social Bonding and Treatment of Grief”
November 5, 5pm
CHRISTOPHER WIELGOS, English
"Possible Worlds" (2000)
November 12, 2pm
DENNIS CREMIN, History
“Geographical Memory: The 25th anniversary of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Historic Corridor”
November 19, 2pm
MARK SCHULTZ, History
“The Reliability of Oral History: the Memory of the African American Community”
December 3, 2pm
JACKIE WHITE and SIMONE MUENCH, English
“Memory in Collaboration: Investigations into Poetry as a Memorializing and Communal Act.”
The Art of Memory: Collective and IndividualThe faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences at Lewis University presents a two semester, interdisciplinary presentation on the topic of MEMORY. We will look at the construction as well as the distortion of historical memory; the relationship of place to memory, the biological formation of memory, divided memory, the cultural as well as religious use of memory and memorials as well as the theme of memory in both contemporary and classical films, music, poetry, and literature. Fall Semester:THURSDAYS, in AS -158-ASeptember 10, 2pm PANEL PRESENTATION: AN INTRODUCTION: Speakers from the colloquium present the topic of memory and give a brief overview of the topics their presentations will cover. September 17, 5pm film CHRISTOPHER WIELGOS, English Memento (2000) Director Christopher Nolan presents an intense and suspenseful thriller about a man with no short term memory who tried to find his wife’s killer using notes to himself to keep his memory focused. September 24, 2pm ERIN ZIMMER, Biology “The Biological Foundations of Short Term and Long Term Memory” Dr. Zimmer will give a presentation of current research and understanding of how memory functions from the biological perspective. October 1, 2pm Dr. Edna Kantorovitz Carter Southard (Earlham College) “National Museums and Sites of Memory: Divided Memory and the Holocaust in Vilnius, Lithuania” Museums and public spaces express a nation’s collective identity. They express powerfully the national narrative or perpetuate divided memory. When versions of history conflict, how is documented history told through national museums and public spaces? In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania today and a major center of Jewish life before the Holocaust, parts of the national history are omitted or marginalized. There is a duel between Jewish memory and Lithuanian minimization of anti-Jewish violence. This failure to reconcile past events with present telling of history is a lesson in divided memory and collective amnesia. October 15, 2pm DOMINIC COLONNA, Theology “Remembering, Reproduction, and Theological Value: Religious art of Mexican immigrants in New Mexico” Prof. Colonna presents his research in New Mexican church art. October 22, 2pm CHRISTOPHER WIELGOS, English “12 Monkeys” “La Jatte” Chris Marker's haunting cinematic experiment was the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's 1995 film, “12 Monkeys”. The two films share an important element beyond plot. Each is concerned with the strategies that people use to escape their memories. Both films use time travel to explore the paradoxes of the human mind that allow us to experience simultaneously the past, present, and future. Memory illuminates the dark corners of human survival to powerful effect. October 29, 2pm JOHN GREENWOOD, Psychology “ El Dia de los Muertos: A sophisticated Pre-literate Use of Family Memories for Social Bonding and Treatment of Grief” What is the use and function of the Mexican “Day of the Dead”? November 5, 5pm CHRISTOPHER WIELGOS, English Possible Worlds (2000) is director Robert DePage’s film about a man who lives out several lives in different “worlds” and in different relationships simultaneously. November 12, 2pm DENNIS CREMIN, History “Geographical Memory: The 25th anniversary of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Historic Corridor” From a historical perspective, the creation of the Illinois and Michigan Canal NHC represents historical revisionism that placed geography and the history of waterborne transportation at the center of local consciousness. The NHC concept has become a nation trend that recovers a sense of place in the local and national context. November 19, 2pm MARK SCHULTZ, History “The Reliability of Oral History: the Memory of the African American Community” Professor Schultz is a nationally recognized authority on the lives of African Americans after the Civil War. His research is based on his collection of taped interviews with African Americans. How reliable has he found the oral narratives he collected? December 3, 2pm JACKIE WHITE and SIMONE MUENCH, English “Memory in Collaboration: Investigations into Poetry as a Memorializing and Communal Act.” From its beginnings as an oral form, poetry has been an "art of memory," preserving, memorializing, and recontextualizing both individual and public experiences. Poetry, therefore, also has a communal and collaborative nature. To celebrate this, student readers of poems will select and memorize famous poems that articulate or speak for them of memory, and share those poems with student poets who will write and share their responses or imitations based on those poems and exploring their own memories. This event will allow us all to explore how poetry helps us continue to preserve and construct memory, from the intimate and individual to the collective. Program conceived and organized by Dr. Ewa K. Bacon, History Department. Please contact Professor Bacon at baconew@lewisu.edu or 815.836.5568 |
Our work is supported by the Lewis University History Center and the Arts and Ideas Program. Culture and Civilization students: Project points are available.
