CULTURAL STUDIES

AND MODERN LANGUAGES

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

WEEK 3 MONUMENTS
An overview of week 3 with Gloria
Hi, everyone, and welcome to week three of our free online course from the University of
Bristol.
I hope you enjoyed the last two weeks, which focused on slogans and books. This week,
we will move our attention to objects, and explore three monuments built in three different
countries over different historical periods.
Our journey will begin at the Holocaust Memorial, built in Germany in 2005. We will then
travel to France to discuss the Obelisk of Luxor, which is over 3,000 years old and was
gifted to France in 1833. We conclude our adventure at the Bronze Horseman, a statue of
Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, in Russia, which was completed in 1782.
The history of these monuments will be explained in short videos delivered by Debbie,
Gino and Connor, three colleagues of mine who are experts on Germany, France and
Russia. Again, there will be some secondary texts available which, alongside the videos,
will analyse how the monuments were received, how they are viewed today, and what they
can tell us about the countries they originated from.
By the end of the week, you will have learnt new facts about Germany, France and Russia.
You will also have become more familiar with how analysing a monument for example,
its commissioning, creation and reception can give us a deeper, less obvious insight into
a nations culture and history.
I hope you find the Holocaust Memorial, the Obelisk of Luxor and the Bronze Horseman
interesting monuments to explore. Remember, do not worry if you cannot complete all the
activities; you can dip in and out of our course to suit your time and preferences. See you
next week, our final week, in which will be focusing on images.

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