Enroll ($55 nonmember, $50 member)

Course description:

Memory, Mapping, and Meaning

What do we discover about our memories when we dig for information about where they happened? What impact do changing landscape and history have on how we write about memories? This craft course is a kind of archaeological excavation of our most poignant images of our homelands. It explores the nature of episodic memory and offers writers tools with which to build upon and deepen fleeting snapshots of experience in pursuit of greater meaning. We’ll mine place-based memory—memory rooted strongly in its location in place and time—layering what we remember through writing prompts, research, and theory. We’ll see that documenting change over time can lend itself to critical analysis of economics, environmental change, class, conflict, and more. As we uncover information about our place-based memories, we’ll explore opportunities to add elements of critical analysis to memoir.