Global Perspectives on Public History – serie

Against the backdrop of two recent socio-political developments—the shift from the Obama to the Trump administration and the surge in nationalist and populist sentiment that ushered in the current administration—Contested Commemoration in U.S. History presents eleven essays focused on practices of remembering contested events in America’s national history.This edited volume contains fresh interpretations of public history and collective memory that explore the evolving relationship between the U.S. and its past. The individual chapters investigate efforts to memorialize events or interrogate instances of historical sanitization at the expense of less partial representations that would include other perspectives. The primary source material and geography covered is extensive; contributors use historic sites and monuments, photographs, memoirs, textbooks, periodicals, music, and film to discuss the periods from colonial America, through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars up until the Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement, and Cold War, to explore how the commemoration of those eras resonates in the twenty-first century.Through a range of commemoration media and primary sources, the authors illuminate themes and arguments that are indispensable to students, scholars, and practitioners interested in Public History and American Studies more broadly.

Against the backdrop of two recent socio-political developments—the shift from the Obama to the Trump administration and the surge in nationalist and populist sentiment that ushered in the current administration—Contested Commemoration in U.S. History presents eleven essays focused on practices of remembering contested events in America’s national history.This edited volume contains fresh interpretations of public history and collective memory that explore the evolving relationship between the U.S. and its past. The individual chapters investigate efforts to memorialize events or interrogate instances of historical sanitization at the expense of less partial representations that would include other perspectives. The primary source material and geography covered is extensive; contributors use historic sites and monuments, photographs, memoirs, textbooks, periodicals, music, and film to discuss the periods from colonial America, through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars up until the Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement, and Cold War, to explore how the commemoration of those eras resonates in the twenty-first century.Through a range of commemoration media and primary sources, the authors illuminate themes and arguments that are indispensable to students, scholars, and practitioners interested in Public History and American Studies more broadly.

Public in Public History presents international research on the role of the public in public history: the ways people perceive, respond to and influence history-related institutions, events, services and products that deal with the past.The book addresses theoretical reflections on the public, or multiple publics, and their role in public history, and empirical analyses of the publics’ active responses to and impact on existing forms of public history. Special attention is also paid to digital public history, which facilitates the double role of the public—as both recipient and creator of public history. With a multinational author team, the book is based on various national, but also international, experiences and academic traditions; each chapter goes beyond national cases to look transnationally. The narratives built around their cases deal with issues such as arranging a museum exhibition, managing a history-related website, analyzing readers’ comments or involving non-professional public as oral history researchers.With sections focusing on research, commemorations, museums and the digital world, this is the perfect collection for anyone interested in what the public means in public history.

Public in Public History presents international research on the role of the public in public history: the ways people perceive, respond to and influence history-related institutions, events, services and products that deal with the past.The book addresses theoretical reflections on the public, or multiple publics, and their role in public history, and empirical analyses of the publics’ active responses to and impact on existing forms of public history. Special attention is also paid to digital public history, which facilitates the double role of the public—as both recipient and creator of public history. With a multinational author team, the book is based on various national, but also international, experiences and academic traditions; each chapter goes beyond national cases to look transnationally. The narratives built around their cases deal with issues such as arranging a museum exhibition, managing a history-related website, analyzing readers’ comments or involving non-professional public as oral history researchers.With sections focusing on research, commemorations, museums and the digital world, this is the perfect collection for anyone interested in what the public means in public history.

This volume presents various aspects of public history practices in Poland, alongside their historical development and theoretical reflections on public history. Despite a long tradition and variety of forms of public history, the very term "public history", or literally speaking "history in the public sphere", has been in use in Poland only since the 2010s. This edited collection contains chapters that focus on numerous practices and media forms in public history including historical memory, heritage tourism, historical re-enactments, memes and graphic novels, films, archives, archaeology and oral history. As such, the volume brings together the Polish experiences to wider international audiences and shares Polish controversies related to public history within the academic discourse, beyond media news and politically engaged commentaries. Furthermore, it sheds crucial light on the developments of collective memory, historical and political debates, the history of Poland and East-Central Europe, and the politics of post-World War Two and post-communist societies.Authored by a team of academic historians and practitioners from the field, Public History in Poland is the perfect resource for students from a variety of disciplines including Public History, Heritage, Museum Studies, Anthropology, and Archaeology.

This volume presents various aspects of public history practices in Poland, alongside their historical development and theoretical reflections on public history. Despite a long tradition and variety of forms of public history, the very term "public history", or literally speaking "history in the public sphere", has been in use in Poland only since the 2010s. This edited collection contains chapters that focus on numerous practices and media forms in public history including historical memory, heritage tourism, historical re-enactments, memes and graphic novels, films, archives, archaeology and oral history. As such, the volume brings together the Polish experiences to wider international audiences and shares Polish controversies related to public history within the academic discourse, beyond media news and politically engaged commentaries. Furthermore, it sheds crucial light on the developments of collective memory, historical and political debates, the history of Poland and East-Central Europe, and the politics of post-World War Two and post-communist societies.Authored by a team of academic historians and practitioners from the field, Public History in Poland is the perfect resource for students from a variety of disciplines including Public History, Heritage, Museum Studies, Anthropology, and Archaeology.

Performing Public History explores history-telling as a performance across a wide range of media, including theatre and film, historical re-enactments and living history performances, operas, and video games.Taking historians as storytellers, this book illustrates how the choices they make shape historical meaning. While historians may strive to be objective when they research and write the past, they inevitably draw on their imagination, emotions, and creativity, aligning them with others who make history in public. The book explores issues such as the nature of archives, realism, fact and fiction, accuracy and authenticity, and actants and audiences. It draws on case studies from all parts of the world, offering global perspectives that invite a rethinking about what history is, and how and why we do it. Sharing work by graduate students, the author also offers an appendix of classroom exercises that instructors will find valuable.Written accessibly for students, this volume offers a succinct account of the discipline of history, the field of public history, and how performance is a useful concept for thinking about history work.

Performing Public History explores history-telling as a performance across a wide range of media, including theatre and film, historical re-enactments and living history performances, operas, and video games.Taking historians as storytellers, this book illustrates how the choices they make shape historical meaning. While historians may strive to be objective when they research and write the past, they inevitably draw on their imagination, emotions, and creativity, aligning them with others who make history in public. The book explores issues such as the nature of archives, realism, fact and fiction, accuracy and authenticity, and actants and audiences. It draws on case studies from all parts of the world, offering global perspectives that invite a rethinking about what history is, and how and why we do it. Sharing work by graduate students, the author also offers an appendix of classroom exercises that instructors will find valuable.Written accessibly for students, this volume offers a succinct account of the discipline of history, the field of public history, and how performance is a useful concept for thinking about history work.

Interpreting the Indigenous South reframes public history as a space of Indigenous authority and self-representation, where communities define how their histories are told, their knowledge preserved, and their relationships to place understood.In the American South, where Indigenous histories have long been obscured by narratives of disappearance, Native nations are not only present but are actively reclaiming how their stories are told. Drawing on vivid examples from across the region, this book shows how tribal nations have transformed museums, archives, landscapes, and public platforms into instruments of cultural survival and continuity. The book reveals how Indigenous communities are using public history as a living practice to sustain their identities and project their futures. From environmental stewardship and commemorative journeys to digital storytelling and intergenerational teaching, what outsiders may dismiss as performance or tourism emerges as a strategic practice.By exploring different methodological approaches and providing multiple examples of how tribal communities are involved in the co-production of knowledge and historical interventions, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Native American studies and history, as well as public history practitioners.

Interpreting the Indigenous South reframes public history as a space of Indigenous authority and self-representation, where communities define how their histories are told, their knowledge preserved, and their relationships to place understood.In the American South, where Indigenous histories have long been obscured by narratives of disappearance, Native nations are not only present but are actively reclaiming how their stories are told. Drawing on vivid examples from across the region, this book shows how tribal nations have transformed museums, archives, landscapes, and public platforms into instruments of cultural survival and continuity. The book reveals how Indigenous communities are using public history as a living practice to sustain their identities and project their futures. From environmental stewardship and commemorative journeys to digital storytelling and intergenerational teaching, what outsiders may dismiss as performance or tourism emerges as a strategic practice.By exploring different methodological approaches and providing multiple examples of how tribal communities are involved in the co-production of knowledge and historical interventions, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Native American studies and history, as well as public history practitioners.

Public History for a Post-Truth Era explores how to combat historical denial when faith in facts is at an all-time low. Moving beyond memorial museums or documentaries, the book shares on-the-ground stories of participatory public memory movements that brought people together to grapple with the deep roots and current truths of human rights abuses. It gives an inside look at "Sites of Conscience" around the world, and the memory activists unearthing their hidden histories, from the Soviet Gulag to the slave trade in Senegal. It then follows hundreds of people joining forces across dozens of US cities to fight denial of Guantánamo, mass incarceration, and climate change. As reparations proposals proliferate in the US, the book is a resource for anyone seeking to confront historical injustices and redress their harms. Written in accessible, non-academic language, it will appeal to students, educators, or supportive citizens interested in public history, museums, or movement organizing.

Public History for a Post-Truth Era explores how to combat historical denial when faith in facts is at an all-time low. Moving beyond memorial museums or documentaries, the book shares on-the-ground stories of participatory public memory movements that brought people together to grapple with the deep roots and current truths of human rights abuses. It gives an inside look at "Sites of Conscience" around the world, and the memory activists unearthing their hidden histories, from the Soviet Gulag to the slave trade in Senegal. It then follows hundreds of people joining forces across dozens of US cities to fight denial of Guantánamo, mass incarceration, and climate change. As reparations proposals proliferate in the US, the book is a resource for anyone seeking to confront historical injustices and redress their harms. Written in accessible, non-academic language, it will appeal to students, educators, or supportive citizens interested in public history, museums, or movement organizing.

Through a collection of essays that reflect the complexity of the island’s historical past as it operates today, Public History in Ireland delivers a scholarly yet accessible introduction to contemporary topics and debates in Irish public history.Despite the reputation that Ireland, both north and south, has gained as a place of contestation, this is the first book-length study to tackle its diverse and often ‘difficult’ public histories. Public History in Ireland offers examples drawn not only from museums, heritage and collections, prime mediators of public historical interpretation, but also from the work of artists and academics. It considers the silences in Ireland’s history-telling, including those of the recent conflict in Northern Ireland and of the traumatic public discoveries and re-evaluations of the island’s institutions of social control. The book’s key message is that history is active, making itself felt in ongoing debates about heritage, identity, nationhood, post-conflict society and reparative justice. It shows that Irish public history is freighted and often fraught with jeopardy, but as such it is rich with insight that has relevance far beyond this island’s shores.This book is useful for students, scholars and practitioners working in the fields of public history and the history of Ireland.

Through a collection of essays that reflect the complexity of the island’s historical past as it operates today, Public History in Ireland delivers a scholarly yet accessible introduction to contemporary topics and debates in Irish public history.Despite the reputation that Ireland, both north and south, has gained as a place of contestation, this is the first book-length study to tackle its diverse and often ‘difficult’ public histories. Public History in Ireland offers examples drawn not only from museums, heritage and collections, prime mediators of public historical interpretation, but also from the work of artists and academics. It considers the silences in Ireland’s history-telling, including those of the recent conflict in Northern Ireland and of the traumatic public discoveries and re-evaluations of the island’s institutions of social control. The book’s key message is that history is active, making itself felt in ongoing debates about heritage, identity, nationhood, post-conflict society and reparative justice. It shows that Irish public history is freighted and often fraught with jeopardy, but as such it is rich with insight that has relevance far beyond this island’s shores.This book is useful for students, scholars and practitioners working in the fields of public history and the history of Ireland.

This book explores how recent Colombian historical memories are informed by cultural diversity and how some of the country’s citizens remember the brutalities committed by the Army, guerrillas, and paramilitaries during the internal war (1980-2016).Its chapters delve into four case studies. The first highlights the selections of what not to remember and what not to represent at the National Museum of the country. The second focuses on the well-received memories at the same institution by examining a display made to commemorate the assassination of a demobilized guerrilla fighter. The third discusses how a rural marginal community decided to vividly remember the attacks they experienced by creating a display hall to aid in their collective and individual healing. Lastly, the fourth case study, also about a rural peripheric community, discusses their way of remembering, which emphasizes peasant oral traditions through a traveling venue. By bringing violence, memory, and museum studies together, this text contributes to our understanding of how social groups severely impacted by atrocities recreate and remember their violent experiences. By drawing on displays, newspapers, interviews, catalogs, and oral histories, Jimena Perry shows how museums and exhibitions in Colombia become politically active subjects in the acts of reflection and mourning, and how they foster new relationships between the state and society. This volume is of great use to students and scholars interested in Latin American and public history.

This book explores how recent Colombian historical memories are informed by cultural diversity and how some of the country’s citizens remember the brutalities committed by the Army, guerrillas, and paramilitaries during the internal war (1980-2016).Its chapters delve into four case studies. The first highlights the selections of what not to remember and what not to represent at the National Museum of the country. The second focuses on the well-received memories at the same institution by examining a display made to commemorate the assassination of a demobilized guerrilla fighter. The third discusses how a rural marginal community decided to vividly remember the attacks they experienced by creating a display hall to aid in their collective and individual healing. Lastly, the fourth case study, also about a rural peripheric community, discusses their way of remembering, which emphasizes peasant oral traditions through a traveling venue. By bringing violence, memory, and museum studies together, this text contributes to our understanding of how social groups severely impacted by atrocities recreate and remember their violent experiences. By drawing on displays, newspapers, interviews, catalogs, and oral histories, Jimena Perry shows how museums and exhibitions in Colombia become politically active subjects in the acts of reflection and mourning, and how they foster new relationships between the state and society. This volume is of great use to students and scholars interested in Latin American and public history.

This book focuses on various manifestations of history in public spaces: in the physical ones of various historical times and geographical places, as well as in the virtual world.It discusses how the spaces have been shaped and re-shaped, by whom and for what (not always laudable) purposes, and raises pragmatical and ethical questions for both research and practical activities in the field. By combining both micro and global perspectives, the universal role that history plays in spaces created by and for, as well as the factors determining its usages, is revealed. The authors are rooted in specific national contexts: Canadian or American, Ukrainian or Polish, British or Irish, German or Luxembourgish, Korean or Brazilian, and the case studies are varied including large cities and small towns, city centers, and godforsaken cemeteries, but the narratives built on these cases go beyond when they deal with issues such as decoding history and its meanings in public spaces, doing history in public spaces, and observing changes in manifestations of history in public spaces.This volume is an essential resource for anyone interested in the relationship between history and public space in a global perspective.

This book focuses on various manifestations of history in public spaces: in the physical ones of various historical times and geographical places, as well as in the virtual world.It discusses how the spaces have been shaped and re-shaped, by whom and for what (not always laudable) purposes, and raises pragmatical and ethical questions for both research and practical activities in the field. By combining both micro and global perspectives, the universal role that history plays in spaces created by and for, as well as the factors determining its usages, is revealed. The authors are rooted in specific national contexts: Canadian or American, Ukrainian or Polish, British or Irish, German or Luxembourgish, Korean or Brazilian, and the case studies are varied including large cities and small towns, city centers, and godforsaken cemeteries, but the narratives built on these cases go beyond when they deal with issues such as decoding history and its meanings in public spaces, doing history in public spaces, and observing changes in manifestations of history in public spaces.This volume is an essential resource for anyone interested in the relationship between history and public space in a global perspective.

This collection of chapters explores how history is created, shared, and contested in urban and marginalized spaces by examining memory, displacement, resilience, and community-driven historical interventions across Mexico.Bridging academic research with lived experiences, the book shows how public history is a powerful tool that both reflects on the past and projects more egalitarian futures of justice, representation, and cultural affirmation. Centred mainly around Mexico City, but also touching on the impact of migration at the northern border, it contributes to the debates around new forms of history construction and covers topics including territorial dispossession, deportation processes, the violence entailed in erased histories, and the reconfiguration of daily life during the COVID pandemic. Through diverse approaches and methodologies such as documentary film, digital storytelling, public art, museum interpretations, grassroots activism, and other collective or community work, it provides readers with valuable insights into how historical narratives shape identities, social movements, and public policies, as well as a deeper understanding of how communities engage with their past to reclaim space, resist erasure, and foster belonging.This book is a useful resource for all upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in urban history, public history, cultural studies, anthropology, and Latin American studies.

This collection of chapters explores how history is created, shared, and contested in urban and marginalized spaces by examining memory, displacement, resilience, and community-driven historical interventions across Mexico.Bridging academic research with lived experiences, the book shows how public history is a powerful tool that both reflects on the past and projects more egalitarian futures of justice, representation, and cultural affirmation. Centred mainly around Mexico City, but also touching on the impact of migration at the northern border, it contributes to the debates around new forms of history construction and covers topics including territorial dispossession, deportation processes, the violence entailed in erased histories, and the reconfiguration of daily life during the COVID pandemic. Through diverse approaches and methodologies such as documentary film, digital storytelling, public art, museum interpretations, grassroots activism, and other collective or community work, it provides readers with valuable insights into how historical narratives shape identities, social movements, and public policies, as well as a deeper understanding of how communities engage with their past to reclaim space, resist erasure, and foster belonging.This book is a useful resource for all upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in urban history, public history, cultural studies, anthropology, and Latin American studies.

This book chronicles a University of Alabama historian’s efforts to engage public history over the course of a decade, highlighting personal and educational experiences inside and outside of the classroom.Each chapter reveals how Sharony Green, her students, and collaborators used various public places and spaces in Alabama, including the University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa, where she teaches, as “labs” to learn more about our shared past. Inspired by her familiar beginnings in a historic community in Miami, Florida, the author, a descendant of people from the American South and the Bahamas, unveils her encounters with the built environment, old documents and objects, motion pictures, music, and all kinds of historical actors. The book shares a variety of projects including exhibits and displays, images, videos, songs, and poetry, that serve as manifestations of her encounters with the places around her and her students. Together, these stories uncover an unexpected journey into public history, offering new ways to think about the field and humanities more generally.Teaching Public History Creatively in Alabama is an enlightening resource to both intentional and unintentional practitioners of public history, including scholars, students, and general readers interested in connecting with the past.

This book chronicles a University of Alabama historian’s efforts to engage public history over the course of a decade, highlighting personal and educational experiences inside and outside of the classroom.Each chapter reveals how Sharony Green, her students, and collaborators used various public places and spaces in Alabama, including the University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa, where she teaches, as “labs” to learn more about our shared past. Inspired by her familiar beginnings in a historic community in Miami, Florida, the author, a descendant of people from the American South and the Bahamas, unveils her encounters with the built environment, old documents and objects, motion pictures, music, and all kinds of historical actors. The book shares a variety of projects including exhibits and displays, images, videos, songs, and poetry, that serve as manifestations of her encounters with the places around her and her students. Together, these stories uncover an unexpected journey into public history, offering new ways to think about the field and humanities more generally.Teaching Public History Creatively in Alabama is an enlightening resource to both intentional and unintentional practitioners of public history, including scholars, students, and general readers interested in connecting with the past.

Public History, Gender, and Power in Latin American Museums brings together pioneering voices of women curators, museum professionals, and community leaders who are transforming the cultural landscape of Latin America.Through first-hand testimonies and critical essays, this book examines how feminist approaches and public history practices are reshaping the politics of heritage, memory, and representation from the 1980s to the present. From Bolivia’s Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore to Colombia’s Museo Itinerante de la Memoria and Guatemala’s Museo Ixkik’, this book promotes reflections that highlight collective efforts and diverse ways of narrating stories in public spaces. This book analyzes the local contexts where curatorial practices and cultural policies emerge, giving prominence to the women who lead museological projects and their transnational impact. It examines the role of these museum projects in the field of public history and in relation to the decolonization processes undertaken by various museums globally.Public History, Gender, and Power in Latin American Museums: Women Curators and Cultural Leaders is an essential volume for students, activists, and researchers interested in museums, decolonial thought, feminism, and activism in Latin America.