Research for two heritage scholarship projects

Dr. Bird received an RRU Internal Grant for Research to support two projects: the documentary, Ways We Remember War, and a book project: Remembering Well in the 21st Century.

As an element of cultural memory, heritage and the ways we commemorate the past inform nationhood, community, and personal identity in various ways. One clear example is the renewed focus on monuments and how what they symbolize or represent has resulted in their removal either peacefully or by force. Within the context of social and cultural sustainability and how we adapt to societal change, this IGR research project involves funding to support research for two projects that examine how we understand the past and how it is used in contemporary society.

Dr. Bird conducted field research to support these two projects: filming interviews and heritage sites and conducting archival research in support of the documentary, 'Ways We Remember War', in the United Kingdom and Belgium, and building research partnerships and launching work on a Routledge book proposal entitled: 'Remembering Well in the 21st Century: Using Heritage for Commemoration, Reconciliation, and as a Call to Action'. This work will entail discussions with Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories at the University of Brighton, UK where Dr. Bird was to be confirmed as an Affiliate Member.