emily Davis, loyola university of chicago
Proposal Type
Traditional Panel?
Seeking
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
Related Topics
- Memory
- Museums/Exhibits
- Religion
Abstract
Religion remains an integral part of individuals’ identities and provides a basis to form communities. Faith groups pass on traditions to the next generation of believers and teach outsiders about their community’s past. Public historians play a role in this by working at archives, museums, and schools operated by religious organizations or volunteering time on special projects. Furthermore, the incorporation of religious history at public museums provides a secular narrative of religions’ pasts. This panel explores work public historians completed on behalf of religious communities, the ways in which religious communities utilize historical interpretation, and the benefits of using a religious framework for understanding public history.
Description
My main question is whether a panel is the best format for this topic. I know that in 2015 a working group met to discuss religion and public history. Currently I have three other scholars who expressed interest and a potential moderator for a traditional panel. However, upon seeing the working group, I started to wonder if an open discussion about the theory and challenges of practicing public history for religious communities or about religious communities might be more beneficial.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Emily Davis, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be submitted by July 1, 2019. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Emily – I think it’s a great idea to have a panel showcasing some case studies along the lines you propose. Can you think of a unifying question that each panelist can work with? What issue unites you all?
How about working with the question: How can public historians reframe our understanding of religious history?
Good luck!
Emily, I think this could work well as a traditional panel or as a roundtable. Either way, I’d encourage relatively short, engaging statements from panelist/participants, with plenty of time for discussion. In my ideal read of this topic, I’d love to see at least one panelist/participant from one of the religious communities that you or someone else in the group worked with. There are, of course, financial difficulties associated with conference attendance for many of us, but particularly for community members who don’t have academic or work-related support for the travel. However, Atlanta can be a relatively affordable city to get to at least, so perhaps this year’s conference would work out for this. Anecdotally, I’ve seen sessions with community members commenting on work public historians have done (or they wish they would do) get high quality engagement from other attendees.
This looks like a fascinating topic, whether as a panel or a group. I’m in the middle of a two-year PH project with a church in Roxbury. My undergraduate students did oral histories last year and will be building a public website this year. Partnering with churches, especially across cultural and denominational lines can open very productive relationships. Questions we face include: how can a secular, predominantly white organization best partner with an African American church, how can leadership roles be negotiated, and how can issues of demographic change be studied within a church case study. If I can be of help, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Emily, I am Robert Cowles and I am the Church Historian for Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I submitted a proposal to be on a panel discussing the challenges of this type of Public Historian. Highlighting the specific challenges I faced as Church Historian beginning in 2015-2019 when we closed our 84 year old Church and built a New Church. In the process of closing the Church and Office building I was given boxes of old files and in plastic trash bags School Records dating back to 1889, I am faced with the challenge of organizing these materials and trying to convince the Finance Committee to fund proper storage of these items, according to what I was taught while earning my Master of Arts Degree with an emphasis in Public History, August 4, 2017.