Afterword: The Turn to Pedagogy: A Needed Conversation on the Practice of Curating Difficult Knowledge

Abstract

As we begin the second decade of the twenty-first century, the media through which public history is enacted has become substantially complicated. Museums and galleries are situated in relation to cinema, television, radio, newspapers, books, and Internet websites as institutions of social memory with a potential public role in constituting what members of any given society understand as their cultural heritage. Beyond presenting what has been institutionally designated as revered heritage, many of these institutions have begun to acknowledge that taking one’s historical inheritance seriously requires a commitment to critically engage a past that is both inspiring and despairing. Thus it is no surprise that over the last 30 years, many institutions of social memory have attempted to move away from a singular emphasis on affirming presentations of patriotism, triumph, and great deeds toward a greater appreciation of the complexities, competing motivations, and potential for aggression inherent in human relationships.