Join us to mark the release of Paul M. Farber's new book A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall (UNC Press, 2020), now updated with a Teach-In connecting themes from this book to current uprisings against systemic racism and movements for justice.
Themes include:
-Art, Resistance, and the Struggle for Democracy
-Multi-Racial Coalitions to Fight Anti-Black Racism
-Lessons from History about Monumental Justice
Special guests include Paul M. Farber (Monument Lab), Axel Klausmeier (Berlin Wall Foundation), Grace Sanders-Johnson (University of Pennsylvania), Salamishah Tillet (Rutgers University-Newark), Penny Von Eschen (UVA) and Carmen Winant (The Ohio State University).
Books, including signed copies for delivery, available for purchase through Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books – Purchase here
Read an excerpt here: https://monumentlab.com/bulletin/a-wall-of-our-own-an-american-history-of-the-berlin-wall
About A Wall of Our Own
The Berlin Wall is arguably the most prominent symbol of the Cold War era. Its construction in 1961 and its dismantling in 1989 are broadly understood as pivotal moments in the history of the last century. In A Wall of Our Own, Paul M. Farber traces the Berlin Wall as a site of pilgrimage for American artists, writers, and activists. During the Cold War and in the shadow of the Wall, figures such as Leonard Freed, Angela Davis, Shinkichi Tajiri, and Audre Lorde weighed the possibilities and limits of American democracy.
Advance Praise for A Wall of Our Own
“This book is both a social history and a theoretical marvel. Farber’s critical dexterity, intellectual rigor, and imagination are exemplary and exciting.”
"This is a work of history the way it should be written: thorough, brilliant analysis coupled with an extraordinary account of extraordinary people and their works in an extraordinary period of time.”
"Intelligently conceived, rigorously researched, and highly insightful, A Wall of Our Own makes a unique and exciting contribution to cultural studies of the United States in the world, U.S. cultural history more generally, and the history of race and gender in the United States."
Launch Event Partners: Stiftung Berliner Mauer (The Berlin Wall Foundation), The Center for Public Art & Space at University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Monument Lab, Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books, and University of North Carolina Press.