Memory and Monuments Across the Contemporary Middle East: Empires, Nations, and Environments

Announced by the University of Pittsburgh

How can engagements with the past both consolidate and challenge the power of state authorities? This presentation answers that question through a survey of monuments and memory across the contemporary Middle East. Drawing on case studies from places including Turkey, Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, this talk describes the many forms that memory can take. It argues that although some of these struggles over memory are specific to the region of the Middle East, many of the lessons they teach have much wider resonance in the context of global struggles over history, justice, and citizenship.