The urge to commemorate individuals, heroic acts, historic events whether unspeakable or splendid is both human and timeless. This seminar will document and explore the concept of what is monumental, as well the nature of commemorative monuments, from the ancient Mediterranean (Egypt; Mycenae; Greece of the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Periods; Imperial Rome) and their influence on monuments in later history, especially those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The current trend towards countermonuments, or anti-monuments, such as Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial or the Gerzes' vanishing Monument Against Fascism, War and Violence and For Peace and Human Rights in Hamburg/Harburg will be discussed in light of the monumental tradition of combining word, image, and architecture to create memorials that will endure in both spatial and temporal terms. The current discussion of Holocaust memorials and the problems inherent in the design of a monument for the WTC will also be addressed. Students will be asked to design a commemorative project for the final class meeting. Requirements: participation; presentations and term paper; short design project.