“And still it is not enough to have memories. One must be able to forget them when they are many, and one must have the great patience to wait until they come again. ” — Rainier Maria Rilke

Scientists, artists, anthropologists, and writers have long fixated on the powers and limitations of memory. Memories at various levels of consciousness run through our cognition, our decisions, and our attention to the present and future. In this course, we will bring together interdisciplinary studies of memory: from biological research and cognitive theory to portrayals in literature and visual art. Through readings, activities, and guided discussions, we will collectively practice and attend to the act of remembrance — and, as Rilke pointed out, to memory’s necessary converse: the act of forgetting. 

Throughout the three-week seminar, students will design and create an archival project to store personal memory formed within the span of the course.

Led by Czarina Ramos, a neuroscientist and writer based in Brooklyn.