Reconsidering Interpretation of Heritage Sites chronicles and problematizes the representation of the eighteenth century in museums and heritage sites while also challenging public historians to alter their perceptions of what might be possible when interpreting such sites. Much of the history consumed at eighteenth-century historic sites is one-dimensional, white, male, heteronormative, and very focused on power and wealth. Anne Lindsay argues that this narrative may be challenged through an engagement with the everyday life of the past, creating thought-provoking and challenging experiences that will connect with the modern visitor on a deeper level. Unlike other work that has been done in the field, the book provides a constructive study that engages in a horizontal analysis of a century over a geographic region. As a result, Lindsay provides a unique opportunity for scholars and practitioners to reflect on the types and tone of messages usually conveyed about the eighteenth century. Reconsidering Interpretation of Heritage Sites will be invaluable to scholars and practitioners working in the fields of museum and heritage studies and history. It will be particularly interesting to those who want to know more about how the lived experience of the past may be interpreted at historic sites, and how this could be used to engage with contentious histories.

The History of Heritage Interpretation explores significant events in the history of the field, from its origins with the elders of tribal villages through the development of professional organizations around the world, with specific emphasis on the National Association for Interpretation in the United States.

Sally Hemings: Given Her Time is an exciting, concise biography tells that tells the extraordinary tale of Sally Hemings, mother of Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved children. Born on the eve of the American Revolution, the war hung over Sally Hemings' childhood. As a teenager, she travelled to Paris to witness the beginning of another revolution. There, she entered a painful bargain and became Jefferson’s concubine in exchange for her children’s freedom. Over thirty-six years she gave birth to seven children, buried three, and raised four, all while hoping their father would make good on his promise. Placing Hemings within the history of American women and slavery, the book acts as an introduction to race, gender, slavery, and freedom in the first fifty years of the American republic. Within this context, Hemings’ life demands an honest reckoning with the national foundations of race, gender, bondage, and freedom from the vantage of a woman for whom nothing was created equal and for whom life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness came with great costs. This textbook includes study questions for students to consider and documents to encourage students to engage with primary source materials. Sally Hemings: Given Her Time is an accessible and lively read for students in women and gender studies, women’s history, and African American Studies.

Across humanities disciplines, public scholarship brings academics and community members and organizations together in mutually-beneficial partnership for research, teaching, and programming. While the field of publicly engaged humanities scholarship has been growing for some time, there are few volumes that have attempted to define and represent its scope. The Routledge Companion to Public Humanities Scholarship brings together wide-ranging case studies sharing perspectives on this work, grounded in its practice in the United States. The collection begins with chapters reflecting on theories and practices of public humanities scholarship. The case studies that follow are organized around six areas of particular impact in public humanities scholarship: Informing contemporary debates; amplifying community voices and histories; helping individuals and communities navigate difficult experiences; preserving culture in times of crisis and change; expanding educational access; and building and supporting public scholarship. The Companion concludes with a glossary, introducing select concepts. Taken together, these resources offer an overview for students and practitioners of public humanities scholarship, creating an accessible vocabulary rooted in the practices that have so advanced academic and community life. Although drawing on case studies from the US, these examples offer perspectives and insights relevant to public humanities around the world. This book will be of interest to anyone working within the public humanities or wanting to make their work public and engage with wider communities.

This is the first volume specifically dedicated to the consolidation and clarification of Heritage Studies as a distinct field with its own means of investigation. It presents the range of methods that can be used and illustrates their application through case studies from different parts of the world, including the UK and USA. The challenge that the collection makes explicit is that Heritage Studies must develop a stronger recognition of the scope and nature of its data and a concise yet explorative understanding of its analytical methods. The methods considered fall within three broad categories: textual/discourse analysis, methods for investigating people’s attitudes and behaviour; and methods for exploring the material qualities of heritage. The methods discussed and illustrated range from techniques such as text analysis, interviews, participant observation, to semiotic analysis of heritage sites and the use of GIS. Each paper discusses the ways in which methods used in social analysis generally are explored and adapted to the specific demands that arise when applied to the investigation of heritage in its many forms. Heritage Studies is a seminal volume that will help to define the field. The global perspective and the shared focus upon the development of reflexive methodologies ensure that the volume explores these central issues in a manner that is simultaneously case-specific and of general relevance.