The Program on History, Memory, and Conflict engages in research, education, and practice concerning the production and reproduction of history and memory in conflict and transitioning societies. The aim of the Program is to analyze the main mechanisms, stakeholders, and media through which collective memory and historical narratives are created, disseminated and impacts society and to identify possible models and develop programs for conflict resolution, democracy building, and restoration of justice.
The Program defines the history education as a broad concept that includes school education (textbook and instruction), memorials, museums, and archeological sites, popular culture, internet, and mass media. The program includes a lecture series, conferences, seminars, and other related events. The lecture series features speakers from GMU, the Washington area, the broader US, and other countries.
There are five primary goals:
- To facilitate dialogue between stakeholders on addressing memory of violence, trauma, and history of conflict beyond school classrooms.
- To provide knowledge on identity-based conflicts to historic preservation professionals and museum curators
- To assist post-conflict reconstruction and reintegration programs by developing history education reform models and politics of memory.
- To assist governments and ministries of education in their efforts to successfully reform history education and representation of collective memory.
- To facilitate production of common and inclusive history textbooks, new curricula, teaching materials and train history teachers in the framework of peace education.
Affiliated Faculty
Karina Korostelina (Carter School); Daniel Rothbart (Carter School); Kevin Avruch (Carter School); Richard Rubenstein (Carter School); Mills Kelly (Global Affairs); Mark Helmsing (History), Steven Barns (History).
The U.S
Elizabeth Anderson, American University; Tamra d'Estree, University of Denver; Hope Harrison, George Washington University; Jeffry Helsing, USIP; Charles Ingrao, Purdue University; Mills Kelly, George Mason University; Carolyn Kissane, New York University; Maggie Paxson, George Washington University; Paul Scham, Middle East Institute; Sandra Scham, University of Maryland; Margaret Smith, American University; Daqing Yang, George Washington University
World wide
Inga Niehaus, Falk Pingel, Georg Stober, the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research,
Toyomi Asano and Naoyuki Umemori, Waseda University
Maria Repoussi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Stuart J. Foster and Alice Pettigrew, University College London
Jason Todd, Oxford University
Merethe Skårås, OsloMet
Recent Events
Karina Korostelina was a keynote speaker at the conference “Conflict and Identity: confronting the past through education” at Lincoln College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, October 17–18. Her keynote address, “Addressing Identity-based Conflicts Through Education,” outlined major dilemmas faced by history education in conflict and post-conflict societies divided by ethnic, religious, and sectarian identities.