Navigating Memorialization and Commemoration on U.S. Campuses

Book excerpt: Drawing on rich qualitative data, as well as theoretical and conceptual frameworks, this text explores how institutions of higher education in the US can effectively remember incidents of campus crisis through physical memorials and commemoration. Recognizing memorialization as a process of group and individual recovery, the book foregrounds the performative functions of physical memorials, and highlights their utility for the extended campus community. Profiling existing campus memorials in the US, and offering insights from students, faculty, community members, and the loved ones of those memorialized, the text illustrates how institutional decisions and long-term strategy can serve to effectively navigate the politics of memorialization, helping communities move beyond incidents of collective trauma. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in emergency management, student affairs practice and higher education administration, and commemorative literature more broadly. Those specifically interested in heritage studies, public history, and American history will also benefit from this book.