In this talk, Laura Pulido will explore how U.S. cultural memory represents processes of white supremacy and settler colonization. Based on an analysis of National Historical Landmarks, Pulido found that 92% of all National Landmarks deny histories of white supremacy and settler colonization through a variety of means. She argues that the U.S. engages in monumental denial in order to preserve white innocence, which is essential to a settler state and one built on various forms of white supremacy. She examines the multiple ways this denial is manifest, particularly in terms of territory, and how it aligns with various regional racial and colonial projects.

Food provided.

Presented by Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Study, the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change; Geography, Environment & Society; and Chicano & Latino Studies.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Laura Pulido is the Collins Chair and Professor in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies and Geography at the University of Oregon. She studies race, landscape, environmental justice, and cultural memory and is the author of numerous books, including Environmentalism and Economic Justice: Two Chicano Struggles in the Southwest; Black, Brown, Yellow and Left: Radical Activism in Los Angeles; and co-author of A People’s Guide to Los Angeles (with Laura Barraclough and Wendy Cheng). She has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Achievement Award and Distinguished Scholarship Honors from the Association of American Geographers; the Cullum Medal from the American Geographic Society; and Ford and Guggenheim Fellowships.