The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (also known as the Wall) in Washington, D.C. Photo by Caleb Fisher on Unsplash.
The public is invited to attend a virtual conversation about 19th through 21st century war memorials on Wednesday, Nov. 11, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The conversation is sponsored by Arts-Mid Hudson and will be led by Elinor Levy, Ph.D., the folk arts program manager at Arts Mid-Hudson, and Katherine Hite Ph.D., professor of political science on the F. Thompson Chair and director of research development at Vassar College.
The conversation will focus on the changes in public memorial architecture, from the Confederate monuments to the building of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (also known as the Wall) in Washington, D.C.
It will include the ways in which monuments and memorials commemorate the contested conflict.
How does public and private memory shape the way in which people mourn the war dead and veterans?
What happens when the generations who lived the war pass on, and memorials become more public history than personal memory?
Elinor Levy joined Arts-Mid Hudson in September 2016. She has a master’s degree in anthropology from California State University, Sacramento, and a doctorate in folklore from Indiana University, Bloomington. She wrote her master’s thesis theorizing that Vietnam Veterans Memorials serve as shrines akin to those found in cultures around the world.
Katherine Hite joined the Vassar faculty in 1997. She received her master’s in international affairs and doctorate in political science from Columbia University. Her recent work focuses on the politics of memory, including the politics of memorials. Her research has been supported by the Fulbright Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, and the Ford Foundation.
To register for the free program, call 845-454-3222 or email Elinor Levy at elevy@artsmidhudson.org
For more information about Arts-Mid Hudson, visit www.artsmidhudson.org, or AMH on Facebook or Tumblr.