The last several decades have witnessed an explosion of new empirical research into representations of the past and the conditions of their production, prompting claims that we have entered a new era in which the past has become more "present" than ever before. Contemplating Historical Consciousness brings together leading historians, ethnographers, and other scholars who give illuminating reflections on the aims, methods, and conceptualization of their own research as well as the successes and failures they have encountered. This rich collective account provides valuable perspectives for current scholars while charting new avenues for future research.

Carla L. Peck is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her research interests include students' understandings of democratic concepts, diversity, identity, citizenship and the relationship between students' ethnic identities and their understandings of history.

List of Illustrations and Tables
Acknowledgements

Introduction: Historical Consciousness: Theory and Practice
Anna Clark and Carla L. Peck

PART I: HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS, CURRICULUM, AND PEDAGOGY

Chapter 1. Schools, Students, and Community History in Northern Ireland
Alan W. McCully and Keith C. Barton

Chapter 2. "Orientation to the Past": Some Reflections on Historical Consciousness Research from England
Arthur Chapman

Chapter 3. History Educational Research into Historical Consciousness in Flanders
Karel Van Nieuwenhuyse and Kaat Wils

Chapter 4. Historical Consciousness: A Learning and Teaching Perspective from the Netherlands
Carla van Boxtel

Chapter 5. Historical Consciousness and Representations of National Territories. What the Trump and Berlin Walls Have in Common
Mario Carretero

PART II: HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS WITHIN AND BEYOND BORDERS

Chapter 6. Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific
Angela Wanhalla

Chapter 7. Looking Back at Canadians and Their Pasts
Peter Seixas

Chapter 8. Private Lives, Public History: Navigating Australian historical consciousness
Anna Clark

Chapter 9. "Chinese and the Pasts": Exploring Historical Consciousness of Ordinary Chinese-Initial Findings from Chongqing
Na Li

Chapter 10. "They Fought for Our Language": Historical Narratives and National Identification among Young French Canadians
Stéphane Lévesque and Jocelyn Létourneau

PART III: HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Chapter 11. What is Black Historical Consciousness?
LaGarrett J. King

Chapter 12. 'There Are Current Lessons from the Holocaust': Making Meaning from Jewish Histories of the Holocaust
Jordana Silverstein

Chapter 13. The "Realness" of Place in the Spiral of Time: Reflections on Indigenous Historical Consciousness from the Coast Salish Territory
Michael Marker

Chapter 14. Intergenerational Family Memory and Historical Consciousness
Anna Green

Chapter 15. Researching Identity and Historical Consciousness
Carla L. Peck

Epilogue: Why Historical Consciousness?
Maria Grever

Index