Contemplating Historical Consciousness: Notes from the Field

The last several decades have witnessed an explosion of new empirical research into representations of the past and the conditions of their production, prompting claims that we have entered a new era in which the past has become more “present” than ever before. Contemplating Historical Consciousness brings together leading historians, ethnographers, and other scholars who give illuminating reflections on the aims, methods, and conceptualization of their own research as well as the successes and failures they have encountered. This rich collective account provides valuable perspectives for current scholars while charting new avenues for future research.

Anna Clark is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the Australian Centre for Public History at the University of Technology Sydney. Her latest book, Private Lives, Public History (2016), uses interviews with one hundred Australians to consider the ways personal connections to the past intersect with broader historical narratives and debates.

Carla L. Peck is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her research interests include students’ understandings of democratic concepts, diversity, identity, citizenship and the relationship between students’ ethnic identities and their understandings of history.