HIST 3809A: Historical Representation
Winter 2025
Instructor: Kira Smith
What is this course about?
In this course, we will examine the ways history is represented and used in the public sphere in three main ways: official and national representations, community interventions, and historical representations as a leisure engagement. Specially, we will ask the questions: how do publics engage with the past and why, how is the past used to facilitate specific outcomes through historical representations, and how is memory evoked in public sites?
Each week will we approach different historical mediums and theories to examine how our current needs shape the past through representation. We will ask further questions as we narrow in on different topics. What is the relationship between education and historical representation? How does representation contribute to challenging Canada as a settler colonial state? How does empathy factor into people’s experiences of historical representation? How do communities intervene on historical representations? What is the role of authorship? What is the audience’s relationship to history presented on screen?
Sites of historical representation will be approached quite broadly and may include: museums, monuments, historical fictions, tourist sites and activities, performances, movies and television, historical fiction and literature, oral history and podcasting, and digital history. While at times, we will emphasize Canadian history, this course is not limited to a specific geographical space or time. Students are invited to bring their interests into the discussion of historical representations throughout this class.
Course Format
This course will be delivered in person, meeting once a week for three hours. Each week will be a combination of lectures, discussions, workshops, and screenings as they relate to the course content. All course readings will be available online via the library.
Course Assignments and Evaluations
All assessments will have you engage with the practice of public history. There will be no examinations nor traditional essays. In the past I have done assignments related to workshops, podcast making, and research creations. No final decisions have been made as of yet.
Questions? Please email me at kirasmith@cunet.carleton.ca