Sightings Articles

maya ritual

Native Americans | American religion | Death | memorial

Loss and Continuation: Lessons from the Popol Vuh

An ancient Maya tradition on keeping those we've lost alive

June 10, 2021
Spring at Arlington

memorial | america | Civil Religion | hope

America the Imperfect, America the Beautiful

A veteran's reflection on the meaning of Memorial Day

May 31, 2021
statue

Coronavirus | art | memorial | Death

Creating a Just Memory of the Pandemic

The importance of community art for processing our collective trauma

April 1, 2021
protest sign

American Civil War | white supremacy | memorial | US history

Monuments, Memorials, and the Resacralization of Space

The landscape of public space shapes collective understandings of the past

February 8, 2021

American Jews | memorial

Kaddish

My father died on the 5th of December, which is also the 27th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar. For the past month, I have attended minyan (Jewish prayer services) twice daily in order to say kaddish for him. Traditionally, children recite kaddish fo...

January 7, 2019

9/11 | Civil Religion | memorial | Sekulow

To Pray or Not to Pray? Civil Religion and the 9/11 Memorial Service by Rick Elgendy

Last weekend, as the nation marked the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, our collective media gaze focused on lower Manhattan, where the memorial service and dedication led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg had already provoked controversy. Tho...

September 15, 2011