Paul Farber explores the role and registers of public speech and writing in the monument landscape, balancing the ideas of imprint and erasure.  By transcending the idea that monuments function solely as static platforms for public art and history, Farber contends we can summon an evolving and more healing relationship to the past. Farber will share notes across his scholarly and public projects, including his new podcast series The Statue with WHYY and NPR, for shifting perspectives on permanence. 

Paul M. Farber is Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab. Farber is author and co-editor of several books including A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall, Monument Lab: Creative Speculations on Philadelphia, and the National Monument Audit.  He is also the host of The Statue, a podcast series from WHYY and NPR. He serves as Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art & Space at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a PhD from the University of Michigan in American Culture.