19210 - How should we commemorate controversial personalities from America’s contentious history?

Course Overview

In June 2020, after a violent demonstration that featured vandalism and a shooting, a large sculpture depicting the Spanish settlement of New Mexico including Spanish governor Don Juan de Oñate was removed from the front of the Albuquerque Museum in Old Town. How should we publicly remember key events and personalities, particularly if they involve colonialism, slavery and/or war? Renaming Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, while it might make us feel better, doesn't address the unique circumstances of the first contact nor the dynamics that have created current inequalities. The Latin root of commemorate is commemorare, “to clearly remember.” What would a 21st century approach to collectively and respectfully commemorate our shared history through art and ritual look like?