While civic education may not always be explicitly included in school curriculums, it can still be imparted through various non-teaching practices and in different places. In this article, we will delve into three potential educational spaces--memorials, museums, and libraries--that are commonly found in Western democracies. We will explore the…

The Roman Empire covered a large area, including parts of present-day Hungary. There are many still visible remains in the landscape or in museums. In addition to written sources, there are monuments ranging from objects to architecture, pictures and sculptures. This makes it possible to question and compare the significance of the individual…

Although memory sites and formal schooling both serve as battlegrounds for postconflict disputes over memory, there is a dearth of research that examines the connection between the two. This article draws on the case of Colombia to explore the use of memory sites, such as museums and memorials, as pedagogical tools in education for peace building.…

The nation is embroiled within intense debate regarding the existence of monuments, markers, and online museums as vestiges of racism and White privilege. Many argue those symbols should be removed from the public square. The essential question of this research is what are social studies methods teachers' perspectives about using monuments,…

Historically museums have provided select introductory orienting materials in languages other than English to support a tourist base. Increasingly, museums are looking to increase their interpretive materials in other languages to provide linguistic diversity, and the institutional motivations for doing so are expanding beyond the needs of…

On April 13, 2019, an EF3 tornado demolished the traditional Caddo grass house and the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site museum with approximately 80 people inside. This occurred on Caddo Days, an annual event designed for Caddo people to share their culture with the surrounding community. In July 2019, survivors, community members, and Caddo…

The 9/11 Memorial Museum's docent program offers visitors artifact-based entry-points into a difficult, emotional history. The program's launch raised a host of questions, many centered on how to balance and convey strongly held, often traumatic, and sometimes conflicting experiences with a newly constructed institutional narrative. This article…

In this article I make the case for including queer narratives in historic house museums, both because including queer history in public history settings is important in its own right and as a way to invigorate museum interpretations and appeal to wider audiences. I dispel concerns about "outing" historical actors and describe some…

Vizcaya was originally the private winter residence of industrialist James Deering and in the course of the last century has known many identities. In Vizcaya's recent process to refresh our mission and vision, we wondered: What should the role of James Deering be in our new vision? Why does he matter? Why does Vizcaya matter? In exploring…

The "Curator's Curiosities" program was launched at Fort Henry National Historic Site in the summer of 2017 as an object-based interpretive program. In addition to learning the history of an artifact from the collection, participants were taught how to properly handle and catalogue the artifact, under the supervision of trained museum…

The Centenary of World War I (WWI) between 2014 and 2018 attracted international attention. Many Australians travel to key battle sites in mainland Europe, especially Turkey, France, and Belgium to connect with the experiences of Australian soldiers and nurses who served in this war. As no conflict occurred within Australian borders, sites make…

For students to understand the narratives of heritage sites, teachers must equip them with the skills to question the public curriculum, engage with it, create meaning from it, and when needed, challenge it.

An educational museum is an active learning environment created for students' participation (art, music, and drama) to learn by doing and experiencing, and didactic knowledge. This research seeks to determine the effect of the Storyline Method on students' perceptions and interpretations of historical artifacts through museum education. This…

Museums have a crucial role to play in building active citizens in their societies. In part, museums are well positioned to do this because developing new citizens is greatly strengthened by the study of the challenges and successes of the past. However, in looking for examples to learn from just as much can be gained by examining citizens working…

Over the centuries, changes in technology and education have transformed people's attitudes towards the arts, making them more accessible. Bohemianism and modern art in the 18th century challenged the elitist perception of the arts, democratizing access. Digital tools and online resources have further opened doors to creating and experiencing…