History Workshop presents “Troubling Monuments: Cultural Vandalism and Creative Practices of Dissent and Destruction” with Erika Doss, Chair of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame

Tuesday, February 25, 2020
3:30–5:00 p.m.
McKenzie Hall, room 375
Free and open to the public

Sponsored by the University of Oregon’s Department of History, Political Science, Religious Studies, Art History, Anthropology, and Sociology

Cultural Vandalism

When memorials, monuments, and other forms of public art are deemed reprehensible, oppressive, or intolerable, they may become targets of “cultural vandalism.” This talk examines various materials used to deface and/or destroy public art, from red paint splashed on statues of Columbus to the tarring and feathering of Confederate monuments, and considers what these practices suggest about protest and dissent in contemporary America as well as legal theories regarding property and ownership.

About the Speaker

Erika Doss is a professor of American Studies and the Chair of her department at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on 20th and 21st century American art, particularly public art and monuments. Her new book project is titled Troubling Memorials and Cultural Vandalism: Reckoning with Disgraced Monuments and Problematic Public Art in Contemporary America.