Paper short abstract:

Living history aims to 'bring to life' the past at museums and heritage sites. I will explore the way in which living history is used in educational sessions to give young people a sense of the past and the impact that it might have on their understanding of past society and culture, with reference to three case studies carried out as part of PhD research.

Paper long abstract:

Living history aims to create a 'sense of the past' or 'bring the past to life' for visitors to museums and heritage sites. Many claims are made about the benefits of costumed interpretation, for example, that it makes the past tangible and is more emotionally engaging than other forms of interpretation. Increasingly, living history techniques and costumed interpreters are being used in education sessions to facilitate a range of reported outcomes for young people, including increased understanding of the past, a sense of empathy, and an appreciation that people in the past were different from us, encouraging greater toleration of difference. Whilst living history attempts to create an 'authentic' re-creation of the past, how far is the audience aware that it is not really the past that is being created but only a version of the past? Using evidence from case studies carried out at the Museum of London, Galleries of Justice in Nottingham and the Tower of London, I will explore some of the issues emerging from my fieldwork, which looks at the experiences of young people and young adults engaging with costumed interpreters at these three sites. When young people say that living history makes the past seem 'real' what do they mean by real? How effective is living history at giving young people a sense of the 'real' past?