Foreword: What We Risk, Jonathan Holloway, Dean of Yale College and
Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History,
and American Studies
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
1. Difficult Knowledge: History that is Too Much to Bear
2. Defining Difficult History: Risks, Reasons and Tools
3. Loss in Learning: Psychoanalytic Framework for Commemorative
Museum Pedagogy
4. Response and Responsibility: Ethical Representations of
Difficult Histories
5. Expanding and Elevating Slave Life History Interpretations and
Uncovering Commemorative Museum Pedagogy
6. Towards a Commemorative Museum Pedagogy
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Julia Rose is presently the director of the West Baton Rouge Museum. Her primary research interests focus on interpreting difficult histories and documenting historical enslaved plantation communities for museum interpretations. Currently, Rose also serves as the Chairman for the Council for the American Association for State and Local History, and is a board member for the Louisiana Association of Museums. She received her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from the George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and Education from State University of New York at Albany. She has held curator positions at the Columbia Historical Society in Washington, D.C., Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, East Tennessee Historical Society, and Magnolia Mound Plantation, and was a faculty member in the Master of Arts in Museum Studies Program at Southern University at New Orleans. In addition, Rose is presently an adjunct faculty member at Louisiana State University where she teaches museum studies.
Rose provides a remarkably thorough and thought-provoking
theoretical basis for displaying ‘difficult’ histories in public
venues. By including an impressive bibliography of works that
examine everything from memory to the psychology of the viewer to
how to create intimacy in uncomfortable exhibit spaces, the author
has broken new ground in how practitioners of public history should
think about exhibiting the ‘history of oppression, violence, and
trauma.’ Divided into six chapters, the book provides a framework
for defining and displaying difficult histories, along with a
discussion of the ethics that surround such memorializations. Rose
concludes by providing a case study as well as the five critical
elements that she posits must be included in any delivery of a
difficult history. She deftly illustrates that, when dealing with
difficult histories, there are multiple, often conflicting points
of view that must be considered in order to accurately represent
what can be a painful past. In addition, difficult histories can
help viewers and learners absorb and apply the lessons learned in
that uneasy space to see how their actions can undo the injustices
of the past in the present. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division
undergraduates and above.
*CHOICE*
[I]t’s hard at first to heed Julia Rose’s advice in Interpreting
Difficult History at Museums and Historic Sites—that when visitors
brazenly deny the brutal realities of the past, we should not
insist that ‘That is how the history happened’ and ‘These are the
facts’ since that ‘will most likely not address learners’
discomfort.’ But Rose’s masterful book dives deep into discomfort.
She is taking seriously what is required to create an environment
where history workers and visitors can all finally ‘go there,’ and
truly confront the most disturbing and emotional implications of
American history. . . .[B]y exploring the roots of resistance, the
book forces any of us who start thinking ‘I can’t do this, this is
too hard’ to examine where that’s really coming from. And by
bringing administrators, workers, and visitors together into a
single category of learners, the book creates a sense of mutual
enterprise, responsibility, and opportunity. I hope we’ll all rise
to the challenge.
*Exhibition*
(Reviewed jointly with Fostering Empathy Through Museums)
Both books contribute to the dialogue on museums as social agents,
and both address the importance of personalizing exhibitions by
telling stories. They deepen the growing dialogue on the role of
emotions aroused by exhibitions. As institutions increasingly
present controversial issues, they need strategies for approaching
anger and resistance. Rose’s Commemorative Museum Pedagogy
summarizes steps that are already taken by many institutions, but
in a way that puts them into relief for those who have not yet
discovered those strategies…. Together, these books will be of use
to museum educators, curators, and others as they strive to offer
experiences in which members of the public engage with contested
histories…. [B]ooks like Rose’s and Gokcigdem’s offer pathways
toward a deeper consideration of the issues involved.
*Museum & Society*
In this original and insightful book, Julie Rose offers a
penetrating analysis of the challenges confronting—and the rewards
awaiting—public historians as they encourage audiences to take an
honest, unblinking look at the past. It is a must read for
anyone seeking to use effectively the transformational power of
history to shape a better future.
*W. Todd Groce, President and CEO, Georgia Historical Society*
Julie Rose makes a valuable contribution in Interpreting Difficult
History. As sites across the country bring challenging stories to
their interpretation, history workers will come upon unforeseen
challenges. Interpreting Difficult History synthesizes and adapts
psychology to unlock the learning processes of both visitors and
front line staff . This work is critically important for museum
professionals. Dr. Rose’s Commemorative Museum Pedagogy is a
straightforward strategy for dealing with the particular needs and
issues of contentious and upsetting history. Any historic site with
a social justice focus or simply a temporary exhibition dealing
with difficult topics will be well-served to turn to this book as a
roadmap and training resource.
*Ashley Rogers, Director of Operations, Whitney Planation, Greater
New Orleans*
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