Erased Histories: Crime, Colonization, and Cultural Violence
Memory, Justice, and the Stories That Were Meant to Disappear
Why This Course Exists:
History has often been written by the victors—and curated to erase voices, crimes, and cultures deemed inconvenient. This course explores how power shapes what is remembered and what is forgotten, and how individuals and communities can reclaim agency through remembrance, research, and resistance.
What Makes It Unique:
Bridges criminology, memory studies, decolonial theory, and creative practice
Blends case studies and hands-on memory work
Designed for both academic learners and engaged practitioners
Ends in a personal or collaborative project (creative, analytical, or curatorial)
Course Duration: 3–4 months
Total Modules: 8 thematic modules (each with 2–3 lessons)
Total Lessons: ~20 structured lessons
Format: Fully online, self-paced course with video/audio content, readings, case studies, guided reflections, downloadable activities, and a final creative or analytical project
Instructors:
Led by a highly qualified PhD researcher specializing in the intricate fields of criminal psychology and cultural trauma, alongside a talented visual artist and art historian who possesses deep expertise in the expression of identity, memory, and political aesthetics. This initiative has been meticulously developed through extensive research, impactful exhibitions, and immersive fieldwork conducted in various contexts marked by silence, profound loss, and courageous resistance.
Outcomes:
Participants will understand the mechanisms of cultural erasure, examine international case studies, engage in personal reflection, and produce a final project that contributes to public or private acts of remembrance.
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Lesson 1.1: History as Power
Explore how history is not merely recorded but constructed—who controls the narrative, and who gets excluded. Learn foundational concepts from Trouillot and Foucault.
Explore how history is not merely recorded but constructed—who controls the narrative, and who gets excluded. Learn foundational concepts from Trouillot and Foucault.
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Lesson 1.2: Erasure as Crime
Examine how erasure becomes an act of violence—from cultural genocide to institutional disappearance. Discover how silence can operate as a political weapon.
Examine how erasure becomes an act of violence—from cultural genocide to institutional disappearance. Discover how silence can operate as a political weapon.
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Lesson 1.3: Naming the Invisible
Reflect on overlooked silences in your own context. You’ll begin identifying one local or cultural absence and articulate why it matters.
Reflect on overlooked silences in your own context. You’ll begin identifying one local or cultural absence and articulate why it matters.
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Lesson 2.1: When Culture Becomes Crime
Learn how colonial systems outlawed languages, customs, and traditions. Understand how law was used to pathologize and erase difference.
Learn how colonial systems outlawed languages, customs, and traditions. Understand how law was used to pathologize and erase difference.
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Lesson 2.2: Assimilation as Violence
Explore assimilation as a structured form of harm through residential schools, forced sterilizations, and cultural suppression. Trace long-term intergenerational impacts.
Explore assimilation as a structured form of harm through residential schools, forced sterilizations, and cultural suppression. Trace long-term intergenerational impacts.
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Lesson 2.3: Resistance Through Ritual
Discover how rituals and banned practices carried memory underground. Research and reflect on one example of cultural survival through creative defiance.
Discover how rituals and banned practices carried memory underground. Research and reflect on one example of cultural survival through creative defiance.
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Lesson 3.1: Reproductive Violence as Policy
Investigate how gendered violence was legitimized through state policy, from eugenics to population control. Consider how reproductive rights tie to cultural survival.
Investigate how gendered violence was legitimized through state policy, from eugenics to population control. Consider how reproductive rights tie to cultural survival.
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Lesson 3.2: Gendered Memory and Shame
Examine how shame and silence shape survivor narratives. Engage with testimonial literature and reflect on the costs of voicing versus erasing pain.
Examine how shame and silence shape survivor narratives. Engage with testimonial literature and reflect on the costs of voicing versus erasing pain.
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Lesson 4.1: The Disappeared
Study historical examples of political disappearances. Learn how families and communities resist forgetting through symbolic acts and counter-memory.
Study historical examples of political disappearances. Learn how families and communities resist forgetting through symbolic acts and counter-memory.
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Lesson 4.2: Punishing Remembrance
Analyze how remembrance itself becomes criminalized—from censored monuments to banned testimonies. Choose and summarize one real-world example.
Analyze how remembrance itself becomes criminalized—from censored monuments to banned testimonies. Choose and summarize one real-world example.
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Lesson 5.1: Counter-Archives and Zines
Explore how grassroots movements create their own forms of remembrance through zines, street memorials, and protest archives. Understand their political value.
Explore how grassroots movements create their own forms of remembrance through zines, street memorials, and protest archives. Understand their political value.
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Lesson 5.2: Oral History as Reclamation
Learn how to conduct oral histories and why they matter. Practice by outlining or recording a short memory interview with someone in your circle (with consent).
Learn how to conduct oral histories and why they matter. Practice by outlining or recording a short memory interview with someone in your circle (with consent).
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Lesson 6.1: Land, Story, and Memory
Reflect on memory as rooted in land and language. Create a “memory map” of a place or story meaningful to your identity or ancestry.
Reflect on memory as rooted in land and language. Create a “memory map” of a place or story meaningful to your identity or ancestry.
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Lesson 6.2: Ritual and Resistance
Understand how spiritual and ceremonial practices preserve histories that institutions deny. Design or describe a ritual that speaks to continuity or healing.
Understand how spiritual and ceremonial practices preserve histories that institutions deny. Design or describe a ritual that speaks to continuity or healing.
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Lesson 7.1: Mapping Absence
Trace forgotten or erased stories within your family, heritage, or nation. Use visual or narrative tools to explore what was lost and how it echoes.
Trace forgotten or erased stories within your family, heritage, or nation. Use visual or narrative tools to explore what was lost and how it echoes.
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Lesson 7.2: Reclaiming Your Lineage
Begin restoring silenced fragments of your personal or community history. Use text, memory, or art to revoice what was hidden or erased.
Begin restoring silenced fragments of your personal or community history. Use text, memory, or art to revoice what was hidden or erased.
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Lesson 8.1: Choosing a Project Path
Select between a creative, analytical, or curatorial project to express your reflections. You’ll receive detailed guidance and examples to help you decide.
Select between a creative, analytical, or curatorial project to express your reflections. You’ll receive detailed guidance and examples to help you decide.
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Lesson 8.2: Draft + Feedback
Begin developing your piece. Share your draft for optional feedback to refine and strengthen your work.
Begin developing your piece. Share your draft for optional feedback to refine and strengthen your work.
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Lesson 8.3: Final Submission + Curation
Submit your final work to be included in a collective digital archive or zine. You’ll also provide a short reflection and consent form.
Submit your final work to be included in a collective digital archive or zine. You’ll also provide a short reflection and consent form.
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Lesson 8.4: Reflection & Closing
Join in a closing discussion to reflect on the process, your insights, and the next steps in your memory journey.
Join in a closing discussion to reflect on the process, your insights, and the next steps in your memory journey.
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Your Expert Guides
Led by Elina, a PhD researcher in criminal psychology and cultural trauma and Amanda, a visual artist/art historian with expertise in identity, memory, and political aesthetics. Developed through years of research, exhibitions, and fieldwork in contexts of silence, loss, and resistance.