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2011 Summer Institute
Our 2011 Summer Institute, “Rethinking 9/11: Life Stories, Cultural Memory and the Politics of Representation,” was attended by 18 fellows from the United States, Canada, Ireland and South Africa.The Institute was held from June 13-14, 2011. Drawing on the Oral History Research Office’s extensive September 11, 2001 Narrative and Memory Project, faculty and fellows explored the political, cultural, psychological, ethical and personal dimensions of documenting urban injury and recovery.
Peter Bearman, Mary Marshall Clark, Gerald Albarelli and Amy Starecheski spoke about the creation and interpretation of narratives of September 11 taken in the weeks and years after the events. The focus of the institute was broadened by presentations by Alessandro Portelli on his work on Harlan County, as well as life stories of victims of terrorism in Italy, and Ghislaine Boulanger on her work after Katrina. Irum Shiek’s presentation on her book, Detained without Cause: Muslim Stories of Detention and Deportation in America after 9/11 and the fieldwork that led to it was a deep intellectual contribution to the process of “re-thinking” 9/11.
