The Memory Project studies how memory is produced and reproduced and seeks to participate in and catalyze that process through support for educational initiatives and production of media and the arts, as well as through public history and commemorative events.
Our work is forward-facing and applied in nature, bringing together theoretical investigation of the politics of memory with direct engagement with its real-world effects.
Photo credit: Sanjay Suchak
Arguments
Read Director Schmidt’s op-ed exploring the ways post-war Germans’ redress of trauma and memorialization were aligned with the aim of revitalizing democracy
ViewAt the center the work of the Memory Project is the question of how to address historical trauma
The Memory Project is rooted in projects centered on Charlottesville, which in the past years has become a pivotal space in defining and shaping broader debates about memory in the United States.
Film.
Memory Project artist-in-residence Micah Ariel Watson’s gospel-infused short films 40th & State and Barky’s
Conversations
Watch “Marching toward emancipation: Commemorating the arrival of Union troops in Charlottesville,” celebrating Liberation and Freedom Day.
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Courses
Race, Charlottesville, And The Making Of Public Memory: The Memory Project post-docs developed a new undergraduate course for the Spring 2021. Click below to view the students' projects:
ViewThe Memory Project is part of the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy and is partially funded by the Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation. It promotes research, curriculum development, and public engagement to address issues of public memory, memory conflict, and memory politics in the wake of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville in 2017.
Using the F-word: Fascist drift in America
Prof. Jalane Schmidt, director of the Memory Project, held an event on fascism in America with author Nicole Hemmer, HuffPost journalist Christopher Mathias, and data scientist Emily Gorcenski. Watch the video here.
Unveiling: The Origin of Charlottesville's Monuments
Unveiling: The Origins of Charlottesville's Monuments
Charlottesville's Confederate Statues Walking Tour
Unveiling: The Origins of Charlottesville's Monuments
Using the F-word: Fascist drift in America
Swords Into Plowshares Community Engagement Kickoff
Remembering the Victims of Slave Auctions: Abolishing Slavery in the Age of Repair
Mellon Sawyer Seminar at the Democracy Initiative
Call for Participants: “Reimagining the American Landscape: race and the future of public history”
University of Virginia, Academic Year 2022-23
Laurent Dubois, Jalane Schmidt, and Louis Nelson invite applications from UVA faculty and graduate students, Charlottesville community members, and faculty from other universities to join “Reimagining the American Landscape” an Andrew Mellon Foundation funded seminar hosted by the University of Virginia through the 2022-23 academic year.
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