CORE 327 - Creating the Collective Self:Stories of Origin and Cultural Identity

Institution:

Colgate University

Subject:

Description:

C. Baldwin, R. Garland, F. von Muench Individuals, communities, and nations remember and celebrate their origins as defining moments of their own identity. Our memories are intimately connected to our sense of self and our aspirations for the future: where we come from (or think we come from) partly determines who we are and where we want to go. This course examines the connection between collective memory and cultural identity. How do communities imagine, interpret and invent their own origins What kind of stories do they tell about them, what ceremonies do they use to remember and re-enact them, and what moral lessons do they draw from them How can foundation myths be appropriated and contested for different political or cultural ends, and what ethical implications do such appropriations raise The course explores these questions while considering how founding myths and commemorative rituals shape and manipulate cultural identities, and how the social makeup and moral values of a community influence what the community chooses to remember and celebrate. Students use a variety of interdisciplinary methods to examine the origins or religions, nations, states, and educational institutions in cultures from antiquity to the present day, in Europe and America. Sources include literary texts, music, paintings, and buildings, as well as celebratory rituals. Finally the course studies the origins of Colgate University itself and considers the uses our community makes of its founding myth of "thirteen men with thirteen dollars and thirteen prayers" that is invoked every year at Founders' Day Convocation.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.colgate.edu

Phone Number:

(315) 228-1000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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