Critical Exhibitions of Violence – The potential of memorial museums as tools for peace building.

Critical Exhibitions of Violence – The potential of memorial museums as tools for peace building.

Angela Bermúdez Vélez. Researcher ID – Web of Knowledge: H-1290-2011 https://deusto.academia.edu/BermúdezVélezAngela Angela Bermudez is a researcher at the Center for Applied Ethics in Deusto University, where she chairs the research group on Conflicts and Cultures of Peace. Her research investigates the role of formal and informal history education in fostering or hindering a critical understanding of political violence, and thus, how it may contribute to peace building. She obtained her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2008 where she investigated youth engagement in the discussion of social and political controversies. Prior to that, she worked in Colombia, where she was born and raised. For over a decade she worked in the field of democracy education, developing curriculum guidelines and teaching and assessment resources, training teachers, teaching youth, and doing research and consultancy with national and international organizations.

Center for Applied Ethics (CEA) https://socialesyhumanas.deusto.es/cs/Satellite/socialesyhumanas/en/centre-for-applied–ethics. The postdoctoral fellow will be integrated to the Center for Applied Ethics (CAE) at the University of Deusto, and more in particular, to the research team on Conflicts and Cultures of Peace. The Center for Applied Ethics, ascribed to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, is integrated by an interdisciplinary team of people dedicated to research, teaching and the transference of knowledge regarding the ethical dimension of social and political processes. The research line on Conflicts and Cultures of Peace investigates different processes of legitimation and de-legitimation (questioning) of the use of violence as a means of managing social conflicts. This research team is particularly interested in the educational processes that promote peace building. An ongoing research project investigates the relationship between history education, the social construction of historical memory, and the development of sustainable cultures of peace. A second line of work focuses on the educational potential of the perspective and experience of the victims of political violence.

Prospective applicants for this position should have general academic training in social sciences and humanities. It is particularly valued if applicants have academic training or professional experience in the fields of memory studies and/or museum studies. Prior experience in conducting qualitative research is recommended. Skills: independent working habits. Collaborative and team work. Academic writing skills. English language: reading, oral, and writing Spanish language: reading, oral and writing (recommended)

• Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)

Applicants should propose a study to be developed within the Center’s research project “Critical Exhibitions of Violence – The potential of memorial museums as tools for peace building”. We live surrounded by historical narratives that normalize violence, leading people to take it for granted, without reflecting about its roots, causes, consequences and alternatives. A high proportion of the contents of history education across the world refer to violent events. However, violence is rarely made the object of explicit critical analysis. Previous research by this team shows that textbook narratives often contribute to feed the belief that in the face of conflict, violence is inevitable, necessary, justifiable, and effective. However, school history is only one of the means through which people learn about the violent past. Memorial museums are another important means, and the analysis of their exhibits can shed light on alternative narratives that can have a potentially different impact on how people understand violence. Therefore, the main research aims of this research project are: 1. Study how memorial museums pertaining to different episodes of the violent past in different contexts foster or hinder a critical understanding of political violence. 2. Develop research-based guidelines for the design of museum exhibits that foster a critical understanding of the violent past. 3. Develop research-based guideless for the collaboration between museums, schools and universities.

• Bermudez, A. & Epstein, T. (2020). “Learning about the violent past in memorial museums – Ethical reflection and history education”. Journal for the Study of Education and Development. Special Issue on “Popular Uses of the Past and Education: the Effects of Fading Boundaries” (Forthcoming). • Bermudez, A. (2019). “The normalization of political violence in history textbooks: Ten narrative keys”. Historical Dialogues, Justice, and Memory Network – Working Paper Series, No. 15. March 2019. • Haste, H. & Bermudez, A. (2017). “The power of story: Narrative, history and civic identity”. In, Carretero, M. Berger, S., & Grever, M. (Eds.) International Handbook of Research in Historical Culture and Education. London: Palgrave MacMillan. • Stoskopf, A. & Bermudez, A. (2016). “The sounds of silence: American history textbook representations of non-violence and the Abolition Movement”. Journal of Peace Education, published online on September 22, 2016. DOI: 10.1080/17400201.2016.1230543 • Bermudez, A. (2015). Four tools for critical inquiry in history, social studies and civic education. Revista de Estudios Sociales, 52, 102-118. • Bermudez, A. (2014). Integrating cognitive and discursive approaches in the analysis of critical reflection within relational and socio-cultural contexts. In, SAGE Cases in methodology. London: Sage Publications (ISBN:9781446273050,http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/978144627305014533946).

P.I. Angela Bermudez recently concluded an international research project “Understanding Political Violence through History Education: Comparative Study of History Textbooks and Teachers in the Basque Country, Colombia and the United States,” which was funded by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (EU 7th Framework Programme 2012-2016) and a Spencer Foundation Research Grant (2013-2014). Building off the results of this previous project, her current research agenda continues to investigate the role of history education in fostering a critical understanding of political violence, but it expands the focus on formal school based history education to include informal sites of history education such as museums and memorials, film and literature. With the support of a research grant by BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) she is currently conducting a pilot analysis of memorial sites dedicated to the Spanish Civil War. She is currently preparing new grant proposals for the Spanish Ministry of Research and the Spencer Foundation (USA).

History education, peace and conflict studies, memory studies, psychology and ethics.

Team composition: The members of the host research team have academic training and/or professional experience in fields such as education, psychology, history, sociology, philosophy, ethics and peace and conflict studies. Conceptual definition of the research problem: Our team investigates the roles that formal and informal history education can play in the development of a critical understanding of political violence, and in fostering cultures of peace. This problem sits at the intersection of diverse bodies of scholarship on history education, peace and conflict studies, memory studies, psychology and ethics. Methodology: The studies conducted by the team regarding the role of memorial museums employ three analytic models designed by the Principal Investigator: a) Narrative Keys for the Representation of Violence, b) Critical Inquiry Tools, c) Socio-Cultural/Discourse Analysis. The use of these models involves constant interdisciplinary work. Given our interest in excavating the inherent social messaging embedded in historical accounts, we draw upon discourse analysis to shed light on the different ways in which language and narrative are used to achieve social goals. Ethical philosophy is crucial in the assessment of the representation of violence conveyed through historical narratives in museums. Cognitive and developmental psychology are used to shed light on how museum exhibits build upon and encourage critical reflection and historical understanding.

The P.I. of the host research team participates in several international research and professional networks that would provide the postdoctoral fellow with valuable opportunities to attend specialized seminars, contribute to publication projects, participate en academic visits and exchange programs, and engage with concrete research activities. These include: • Research Network on Historical Culture and History Education. Coordinated by Professors Mario Carretero (Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Maria Grever (Center for Historical Culture – Erasmus University, Rotterdam). This network recently presented a proposal to the H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019 call, and is waiting for final results. • EUROCLIO – European Association of History Educators. Current collaboration in the project Learning to Disagree. • Historical Dialogues, Justice, and Memory Network. Regular participation in academic seminars and annual conferences. Our research seeks to contribute to the construction of sustainable cultures of peace where individuals and communities can engage in nonviolent management of conflict. In this regard, it resonates with H2020 Societal Challenge 6 that calls for research on the development of “Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies”, and with Challenge 8 (Protection of liberties and rights of citizens) that highlights the need of research that contributes to sustain models of coexistence that rest on principles of freedom, responsibility and justice.

Relevant external stakeholders that could be interested in collaborating within the framework of the proposed research include: • Memorial museums, their curatorial and education teams, which would benefit from research that is likely to help them improve the design of exhibits and educational activities geared towards the goal of contributing to peace-building. • Schools and other educational institutions, which could benefit from research that is likely to provide pedagogical tools to facilitate productive visits to memorial museums.

In adition to the scientific impact, the results of our studies are likely to have an important social impact on the ongoing processes of conveying critical historical memory and building cultures of peaceful coexistence and respect for human rights. A high proportion of the contents included in history curricula across the world refer to violent events and processes. The historical narratives taught in schools tend to normalize and legitimize political violence. However, an alternative approach to history education could teach young people to question and transform these narratives. In particular, memorial museums can expose young people to different accounts of the violent past, and engage them in critical inquiry and reflective discussion about them. In consequence, our research agenda includes a purposeful stragety of colaboration between universities and research centers, specialized museums and educational institutions. As noted, our research aims to: 1. Develop research-based guidelines for the design of museum exhibits that foster a critical understanding of the violent past. 2. Develop research-based guideless for the collaboration between museums, schools and universities.

This research team carries out a distinctive and innovative research agenda. Our studies integrate different disciplinary perspectives to construct original research problems that bridge between ethics and pedagogy, historical memory and peace building, theory and practice. In this way, it advances a needed interdisciplinary dialog. The results obtained with this research are likely to contribute to expand current scholarship, particularly in relation to the challenges of teaching youth about the violent past. Our work contributes a novel examination of the potential of key features of innovative history education to undermine the normalization of political violence by engaging young people in critical inquiry and reflective discussion regarding discrete episodes of political violence in their recent past.

The analysis of museum exhibits about the violent past pays special the attention to the representation of the vicitims of political violence, a significant vulnerable group. In addition, gender based violence is a particularly salient dimension in the examination of representations of political violence. The analysis of such representations is important to develop awareness of the problem and to identify curatorial and educational approaches that contribute to foster a critical understanding and renewed social representations.