Our institute welcomes leading scholars in the field of Memory Studies for guest lectures every year.
Prof Virginia Jewiss (Johns Hopkins University): Four Plaques and a Column: Rethinking Resistance
UCO: School II | May 13, 2026 | 4.00 – 5.30p.m.
In recent years, the field of memory studies has largely centered on what have come to be known as contested monuments: the many Confederate, colonial, and imperial statues that have been defaced, toppled, or otherwise removed in campaigns to combat racism, restore regional sovereignty, and promote social justice. Yet ongoing and passionate debates about which monuments to preserve and which to take down reveal that even well-intended efforts to “correct” problematic historical memories through elimination risk fostering historical amnesia while generating new forms of erasure.
A remarkable cluster of plaques in Rome offers an additive alternative to erasure. A close reading of these inscriptions will highlight how the collective memory of the Italian Resistance has been revised and expanded while pondering the evocative power of place.
> You can find details about our earlier past events here.
