The Place of the Arts in Teaching History

There is significant evidence that artistic representations of the past are both popular and influential in shaping people’s sense of history. Artistic representations such as fiction, commemorative art, and historical visual art surround our students and convey historical information to them. They are historical sources, but they are also constructed accounts designed to convey particular messages, and they should be treated as both. There are many reasons for including the arts in the teaching of history. First, the arts are powerfully engaging. They spark a sense of wonder about lives lived in the past. Second, they help us probe below the surface of events in order to thoroughly explore human agency. They help students see the connections between history and contemporary concerns and broaden their understandings of, and empathy with, historical agents’ circumstances, including motives, desires, ambitions, limitations, and opportunities. Third, the arts can shape collective memory and historical consciousness.