Public History (of Education) and Applied History Manifestos’ 2011-2023

Abstract

This contribution aims to describe briefly what is Public History and how this sub-field of the history discipline (from now on PH), with its historical path in the last f ifty years, its methods, and applied practices, can enrich the knowledge of History and Memory as a participative an applied activity for the present. One of these activities is the Public History of Education, for which PH fosters the need to engage locally with students and their families also outside the classroom and looking at how the past and memories are displayed in public spaces and emphasizing the importance of direct involvement of local communities with their pasts and memories. Public History and its sub-field of public History of education are applied disciplines in and for the present. However, good practices and ethical issues are sometimes summarized when producing disciplinary manifestos. This essay will engage with different history manifestos and their importance in describing the hermeneutic of Public and Applied History in the 21st century.