D5 Class 2.1

Jun 1

Monuments to Mortality

Due to the schedule change this week (MW classes are meeting instead on WF), some of you will be attending this class just before our Tuesday afternoon excursion to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, while others have class on the following day. If you're in the latter group, feel free to draw on what you saw at the cemetery in responding to the following prompt.

Watch at least the first half of this documentary on the historic cemeteries in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah was the first English settlement in the colony of Georgia, and the state's original capital.

I'm particularly interested in the contrast between the colonial graveyard (the Old Burying Ground, discussed during the first 11 minutes), Laurel Grove North (a gorgeous Victorian-era site, discussed from minute 11 to 22, roughly speaking), and Laurel Grove South (the part of Laurel Grove where blacks were buried, both before and after the Civil War, discussed from minute 22 to 26 or so).

For HW, do one of the following:

  1. Take note of something said by the narrator or someone he interviewed, as to the public or private function of grave plots so old that the original mourners are themselves long dead. Quote and respond to that idea with your own thoughts on the purpose of grave sites. Be sure to include a time signature in your response.
  2. Take note of a grave marker that strikes you as interesting. What emotional response does the marker demand from viewers? Be sure to include a time signature in your response.

In Class

Sun-Yat Sen Sculptures
Sun-Yat Sen

Born Sun Deming (1866 – 1925) Sun-Yat Sen was a Chinese statesman, physician, and political philosopher, who served as the provisional first president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China). He is called the “Father of the Nation” in the Republic of China, and the “Forerunner of the Revolution” in the People’s Republic of China for his instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the Xinhai Revolution. Sun is unique among 20th-century Chinese leaders for being widely revered in both mainland China and Taiwan.
—Wikipedia

Some Sun-Yat Sen Memorials around the world

  • in Guangzhou, China: link
  • in Taipei, Taiwan: link;
    • also in Taipei, radicals topple statue: link
  • in Honolulu, Hawaii: link
  • in San Francisco, California; link
  • in Toronto, Canada: link
  • in New York City: link

Choose a sculpture to read up on, then come back prepared to talk about why Sun-Yat Sen is in that location and what his figure means to the people there.

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