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Posts Tagged ‘ cultural memory ’

On Iranian Cats, Mice, and Revolutions

By Mohammad Razi | June 15th, 2009 | Category: Issue 4, Lead Story, On Cultural Life, On Religious Life, On the News | No Comments »

June 12, 2009 was the date of the latest Iranian political crisis, a coup. This coup was special, however. Not only was this coup a military act to seize power, but it is also an act that completes the Iranian revolution in a very ironic fashion. The last remains of those who began the revolution and developed its ideology have been wiped out. Thirty years after the revolution’s victory, the revolution finally ate all its first children.


Leveraging Cultural Memory: Can NASA Use the Past to Shape Its Future?

By Linda Levitt | June 15th, 2009 | Category: Featured, Issue 4, On Public Life | No Comments »

Was it really one giant leap for mankind? Conspiracy theorists deny it. GenXers couch it in Cold War nostalgia. Millennials shrug their shoulders. The 40th anniversary of the lunar landing presents NASA with both an opportunity and a need to reframe the cultural past. As American exceptionalism fades, the moon landing can be repositioned as a scientific marvel, rather than a one-up victory over the Soviet Union, the Cold War foe of another era. NASA can focus on its long history of technological triumph to regain some of its lost cultural capital. Reframing the Mercury and Apollo programs can make these narratives relevant to a younger generation, and potentially make the space program meaningful in new ways. Doing so, however, will take some work.


Why Anniversaries Matter

By T. R. Kiyoshi Oshiro | June 15th, 2009 | Category: Featured, Issue 4, On Creative Life | No Comments »

Given all this, what then is the utility of an anniversary? Why are anniversaries still important, even after their rampant commercialization, indiscriminate application, and often specious interpretation?