A CoLA-Verse Discussion Series: "On the Destruction of Monuments"

Presented by the College of Liberal Arts

“On the Destruction of Monuments”

Led by Dr. Amy Converse, Art History Department, College of Liberal Arts, Woodbury University

On Thursday, September 3rd at 5:00 pm.

BACKGROUND READING TO PREPARE FOR THE DISCUSSION:

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Imperial monuments represent a one-sided conversation that celebrates the history of mainly white men responsible for genocide, rape, the slave trade, and other forms of abuse and exploitation that lie at the foundation of colonialism itself. Should these monuments be destroyed?
• Should these monuments be re-contextualized? i.e. the monument can stay, but the original context must be explained on-site to convey “historical complexity.”
• Should these monuments be substituted with counter-monuments?
• Should these monuments be replaced by entropic monuments, i.e. monuments to destruction?