The Right to Remember: Qualitative Research Methods Seminar is to introduce students to the fundamental research methodologies employed in the domain of collective memory studies. The seminar places particular emphasis on the manner in which these methodologies can inform both personal storytelling and academic inquiry. RR has been meticulously structured to align with the overarching objectives of the citizenship curriculum. It encourages students to consider memory not merely as a scholarly object, but as a civic practice—one that shapes identities, informs participation in public life, and empowers individuals to engage with historical legacies critically and responsibly. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives—including history, anthropology, political science, and sociology—this course provides students with the tools to research how societies remember, reproduce, and contest narratives of the past.
By engaging with foundational theorists such as Maurice Halbwachs on collective memory frames, Pierre Nora on lieux de mémoire, Jeffrey C. Alexander on cultural trauma, and Aleida Assmann on transformations of the modern time regime, students will develop a critical vocabulary for analyzing memory as a social and political construct. Supplementary readings will include decolonial approaches to history, the role of photography in narrating contemporary conflicts, and practical case studies involving oral history methods.
The culmination of RR is the development of a research prospectus under the shared theme “Memory for Citizenship.” This enables students to connect academic reflection with real-world civic and ethical concerns.