We are all aware that monuments and memorials appear across national and international landscapes, reminding visitors of particular historic moments or historical figures. In your lifetimes, they have also served as the focal points for debates that bring to light the deep racial and class divisions within U.S. society. It turns out that one person’s celebration in marble or granite may be another person’s painful wound. In this course, we will examine the ways in which monuments and memorials serve to crystallize and concretize the collective memory and values of groups and, in some cases, nations, putting into tangible and (allegedly) permanent form the histories, ideals, symbols, and beliefs of a specific constituency. Why do monuments and memorials exist, where did they come from, who was or is invested in them, what forms do they take, and what messages do they impart, implicitly or explicitly, to viewers? In what instances do they inspire healing and “re-membering”? In what instances do they perpetuate suffering? Simply put, why do monuments and memorials matter?