A public forum seeking to expand the conversation about how public spaces represent historical memories and cultural values is taking place Monday night at the Chapel of the Cross.

The forum is called Public Spaces & Collective Memories, and it will bring together a range of faculty, students, church leaders and activists with different ideals from UNC and the larger Chapel Hill community.

One of the panelists is former UNC Chancellor James Moeser, who says civility is of the utmost importance in today’s divisive political climate.

“We’re all Americans,” says Moeser. “We’re also all North Carolinians, and yes there are issues that divide us, and sometimes seriously divide us. But I think the ability to come together, to have civil conversation and to respect a person with whom we disagree and have them respect us is part of being civilized.”

Public Spaces & Collective Memories takes place with a back drop of the toppling of the Silent Sam statue – the Confederate monument on the Chapel Hill campus – an issue that has some people in the community choosing sides.

Moeser points out that many things about Chapel Hill’s history, even the building where the forum is being held, have a problematic history.

“The church has moved and evolved,” says Moeser. “But we don’t hide our past.”

Yet, rather than pretending these things never happened, Public Spaces & Collective Memories seeks to acknowledge this problematic history and help people gain perspective.

The forum was organized by Carolina Public Humanities, whose executive director Max Owre says it is important to remember what keeps us together in this volatile political climate.

“We’re still a community, so how do we get to that point where we know that no matter what the resolution is, we move through history together. We do things like take down monuments and change of the names of things, and we still have to be a community,” says Owre.

Public Spaces & Collective Memories starts at 7 P.M. and is free and open to the public. You can read more about the event here.

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