Creating a new discipline of memory studies

Description

Article published in the «Memory Studies» — 2008 — Vol 1(1) — pp. 9–22. DOI: 10.1177/1750698007083884.The multidisciplinary field of memory studies combines intellectual strands from many domains, including (but not limited to) anthropology, education, literature, history, philosophy, psychology and sociology. Our article has four parts. We first consider definitions of memory and note that the single term itself is not particularly useful. Rather, scholars must specify the type or variety of memory under investigation. Second, we consider the breadth of memory studies and briefly survey disciplines in addition to those listed above that may prove interested parties to the new field. Third, we argue thatthe field of memory studies is just emerging, and that its proper development will require creation of a systematic set of methodological tools (qualitative and quantitative) that may be borrowed from various social sciences and adapted to new purposes. Finally, we describe two undergraduate programs in memory studies that have been developed at Washington University in St. Louis, USA and that might be used as models for similar programs.