Public Places

Sites of Political Communication

By (author) Carl T. Hyden, Theodore F. Sheckels

Publication date:

14 January 2016

Length of book:

298 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498507257

This book rhetorically and historically examines the contextual and experiential dimensions of a wide range of public places—from memorials to stadiums—that are rife with political implications. Fourteen public places ranging from the national to local, from 9/11 memorials to a baseball park are analyzed. The authors investigate the histories of these public spaces, examine their designs, and discuss their political implications in order to outline their role within the public sphere. This book begins with a loose theoretical framework for understanding public places as rhetorically drawn from extant scholarship, and concludes with a systematic means of exploring the allocation of power by public places. Recommended for scholars of communication studies, rhetoric, political science, and architecture.

Chapter 1. The National 9/11 Memorials: Whom Do We Remember and How Do We Remember Them?
Chapter 2. Local 9/11 Memorials: Remembering the Events of 9/11 Away from Ground Zero
Chapter 3. Johnstown, Pennsylvania: Remembering Slowly and Differently
Chapter 4. Point Lookout, Maryland: Remembering the Fort Lincoln Dead, Eventually and Variously
Chapter 5. Lincoln and Son Come to Richmond: Remembering the 16th President in the Heart of the Confederacy
Chapter 6. Slavery, Thurgood Marshall, Roger B. Taney: Maryland’s Conflicted Relationships
Chapter 7. Cambridge, Maryland: Redoing the City’s History
Chapter 8. American Cities: Trying to Forget
Chapter 9. Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania: Remembering in the Wrong Place
Chapter 10. Chicago’s Park System: Make No Little Plans
Chapter 11. The High Line: Creating Networks of Accidental Activists, Residents, Philanthropists, Business People and Politicians to Create an Unlikely Urban Park
Chapter 12. U Street NW and H Street NE in Washington, DC: Contested Corridors
Chapter 13. The Westminster Arcade: Politics and Renaissance in Providence
Chapter 14. PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Remembering and Celebrating at the Old Ballgame
Conclusion: Reading Politically

Each case in Public Places is meticulously described, includes history, and prompts certain kinds of reflection, which make the book idea for instructional purposes. . . Public Places is a worthwhile stop, whether you visit for casual interest, scholarly endeavor, or pedagogical purpose.