“We won’t die secret deaths anymore”: Education, Memory, and Screen Media in Public Understanding of the American AIDS Crisis, 1981-2000

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Chadwick-Schultz, K. M. (2022). “We won’t die secret deaths anymore”: Education, Memory, and Screen Media in Public Understanding of the American AIDS Crisis, 1981-2000. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

Despite the obvious devastation of the American AIDS crisis—the period of time from 1981 to 2000 when the United States experienced social, cultural, and political repercussions directly related to the presence of AIDS—educated collective memory of this historic event appears to be lacking. Rather than continuing to explore the rise of AIDS-related gay activism and the Reagan administration’s role in so many unacknowledged deaths, historians need to start asking new questions to uncover why the general public lacks this knowledge. First, how have Americans who consciously lived through the AIDS crisis remembered this historical event? This is not a question of what they have remembered but of how the memories have survived. Second, how have Americans who did not consciously live through the AIDS crisis learn about this historical event? Those born during or after the specified timeframe do not possess detailed memories of this event, but their knowledge of it still informs the nation’s collective memory. So, from where is this knowledge coming? Thanks to a politically motivated distribution of popular textbooks and widespread anti-LGBTQ curriculum laws throughout the country, the American public education system fails to adequately address this historic event in classrooms. Instead, the public turns to its most fruitful memory-making vehicle to learn about the American AIDS crisis: the screen. Popular film and television media has taught the history of this event to the American public over the past 30+ years.

Details
Author

Chadwick-Schultz, K.M.

Title

“We won’t die secret deaths anymore”: Education, Memory, and Screen Media in Public Understanding of the American AIDS Crisis, 1981-2000

Physical Description

1 online resource (62 pages) : PDF

Date

2022

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Despite the obvious devastation of the American AIDS crisis—the period of time from 1981 to 2000 when the United States experienced social, cultural, and political repercussions directly related to the presence of AIDS—educated collective memory of this historic event appears to be lacking. Rather than continuing to explore the rise of AIDS-related gay activism and the Reagan administration’s role in so many unacknowledged deaths, historians need to start asking new questions to uncover why the general public lacks this knowledge. First, how have Americans who consciously lived through the AIDS crisis remembered this historical event? This is not a question of what they have remembered but of how the memories have survived. Second, how have Americans who did not consciously live through the AIDS crisis learn about this historical event? Those born during or after the specified timeframe do not possess detailed memories of this event, but their knowledge of it still informs the nation’s collective memory. So, from where is this knowledge coming? Thanks to a politically motivated distribution of popular textbooks and widespread anti-LGBTQ curriculum laws throughout the country, the American public education system fails to adequately address this historic event in classrooms. Instead, the public turns to its most fruitful memory-making vehicle to learn about the American AIDS crisis: the screen. Popular film and television media has taught the history of this event to the American public over the past 30+ years.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

History

Subjects--Places

America

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Aids
American Aids Crisis
Lgbtq History
Popular Media
Public Memory
Screen Media

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Thorsheim, Peter

Committee Members

Shull, Kristina
Wilson, Mark

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2022.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

ChadwickSchultz_uncc_0694N_13127

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2726