Contextualizing Confederate Monuments in the South: How to Talk About Scary Things

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Reflections, Practice, and Ethics in Historical Archaeology" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

As a discipline of introverts, we avoid talking about potentially contentious subjects too often. This habit is detrimental to both us and the public. Instead of viewing them as merely dangerous or risky, these topics are also an opportunity. Strong feelings in an audience means we do not need to convince them that it is important. Even more relevant to us, in a time of growing science "skepticism", these difficult subjects are also a way of demonstrating to our audience that archaeology is relevant and it matters to them personally. This paper demonstrates how, with care, we can discuss the Confederate monument debate in the rual South. And if we can do that, no topic is beyond reach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Reflections, Practice, and Ethics in Historical Archaeology

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 186