History in the Age of Disaster explores the ways in which public historians and others are responding to our age of accelerating catastrophes. Specifically, it examines public history projects and programs developed in response to such existential threats as gun violence, climate change, pollution, terrorism, and mass migration.
Not surprisingly, trauma, loss, and grief are major themes of the project. Most public historians receive little (if any) training or formal education around these experiences and emotions. The project therefore seeks to surface how cultural sector professionals have mindfully brought their expertise to bear—and have developed new expertise—in addressing the needs of communities impacted by emerging and persistent catastrophes.
As part of this investigation, History in the Age of Disaster also considers many ethical issues surrounding these projects, including engaging community members who may have experienced serious trauma, documenting or recreating lost cultural patrimony, and the persistence of objectivity as a value in many corners of the historical field at a time when communities need well-connected and well-resourced advocates more than they need traditional forms of documentation and interpretation.
The project has several goals:
- highlight the important and urgent work historians are undertaking in the face of accelerating existential threats;
- illustrate to the public, policymakers, educational institutions, and funding agencies the ongoing relevance of historians’ knowledge and skills;
- determine which additional expertise and skills public historians need to develop to do this work most effectively;
- identify emerging best practices or recommend new ones.
I write about some of my work for History in the Age of Disaster on this website, and I’ll share other portions of my research in a forthcoming book.
Research and interviews for the book
In late 2019 and through 2020, the project comprises interviews with dozens of public history professionals; professionals in adjacent fields; and people who, without traditional historical training, find themselves developing or participating in public history projects.
These interviews will heavily influence the shape and content of the book, also titled History in the Age of Disaster. The book’s content continues to evolve as I talk with public historians, but I anticipate it will delve into public history initiatives crafted in response to to mass shootings, wildfires and sea-level rise, urban environmental injustice, cultural patrimony lost to terrorism, and the migrant crisis on the southern border of the U.S. While some of these issues are global in nature, the book focuses on disasters in which the U.S. is complicit in some significant way.
This website—and more to come
A second but no less important piece of this project involves the documentation of my research and thinking, as well as the creation of resources, for public historians and others doing this urgent and important work. I anticipate writing blog posts, articles for publications focused on the cultural sector, and articles for the popular press, as well as starting a podcast wherein I’ll interview people developing relevant projects and programs.
The press publishing the book will understandably not want me to “give away the farm” on this website, but I’ll be sharing much of my research here because:
- I favor openness and transparency.
- I’m learning about more public history efforts than I can include in the book;
- I’m eager to develop a resource where practitioners can learn about each other’s efforts;
- some resources I may develop—e.g., curricula for history courses—are better shared in digital formats than in print;
If you have questions about this project or would like to be interviewed for it, please contact me at lmadsen@boisestate.edu.