Memory and lost communities: strange methods for studying place

Traditionally, public memory scholarship looks to the monuments and memorials inscribed with cultural narratives of the past. Yet, public memory is also a process of formation and deformation, of comings and goings, much like the tourists entering and exiting a city such as Reno, NV. For this project, the authors of this essay took up Stephanie Springgay and Sarah E. Truman's “walking methodologies” to explore the ephemeral experiences of the University of Nevada, Reno campus and its plans for expansion and revitalization in the surrounding area. Through a series of four vignettes (Recollection, Embodiment, Ephemera, and Unformed Objects), we offer themed reflections of our experiences, including our collective senses of contradiction, confusion, and (dis)connections with the city and campus. We contend that as cities and campuses consider revitalization projects, they should recall the experiences and narratives of the city as a part of their histories and public memories. Those narratives should include moments of formation and deformation as leaders and academics seek to preserve the public memory of the city.