The Importance of Cultural History
by Ron Lowe

Throughout history, great renaissance cities have found a way to position themselves as part of a larger story – both geographically and historically. They wisely acknowledge that their accomplishments and challenges are, in many ways, the fruit those who have gone before them. Such historical perspective helps us avoid falling into the sort of provincialism which constricts a city’s cultural life.

Scholars often note that for much of our history, America has been conspicuously limited in our knowledge about other nations and civilizations. Our geographic isolation and our unprecedented prosperity have afforded us that luxury. Some have suggested that in our drive to “gain the whole world” in commerce, we may have lost some of our cultural, intellectual, and spiritual soul along the way. Only by enriching our community with a greater degree of cultural literacy will we equip ourselves to meet the challenges of increasingly complex cross-cultural interactions.

The Center for Renaissance and Reformation is committed to helping cities sustain and extend urban renewal by providing opportunities to gain a functional knowledge of our cultural history and to better appreciate its uniqueness, as well as its similarities with the cultures of other resurgent cities. Examining the European Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation can expand our understanding of Chattanooga’s cultural history, as well as enhance our ability to carry out promising new initiatives to commemorate and reclaim the heart of its own cultural mission.   (More.)