Natalie Pickens | 2026 I.S. Symposium
:Natalie Pickens
Title: I Have Seen the Future: 91Թor Memories from World’s Fairs of the Atomic Era
Ѳǰ:Anthropology
ѾԴǰ:French; Philosophy
屹ǰ:Anne Nurse
From it’s a small world to conspiracy theories and a serial killer to the ice cream cone, there is very little in the modern day that is not related to the World’s Fair in one way or another. On top of the new technologies and cultural showcases, the Fairs are notable for attracting visitors from all around the world, and act as a backdrop for many cherished memories. Even as the World’s Fairs begin to disappear from our cultural zeitgeist, there is no shortage of passionate fans, archivists, historians, and former fairgoers sharing their thoughts and photos.
This I.S. examines visitor memories from the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. I conducted a literature review, identifying themes of Futurism, Nationalism, “Humans as Animals,” and Memory. My theory dives into Cultural Performance, Presentation of the Self, Imperialist Nostalgia, and Episodic versus Semantic memories. I found that memories of the World’s Fairs are largely episodic, symbolizing that these were events that deeply resonated with visitors in the moment, and 60 years later.
Posted in Symposium 2026 on May 1, 2026.
