Memory studies on the frontlines of the culture wars

Abstract

On 6 January 2023, New College of Florida, a small public liberal arts college, made headlines when it was announced that prominent figures in the American culture wars were appointed to its board of trustees in an effort to turn this progressive institution into a test bed for right-wing educational reform. This pedagogical reflection examines how the culture wars enact illiberal legislative and curricular reforms that attempt do more than censor difficult histories, they seek to keep the traumatic past in the past. Teaching under increasingly precarious conditions, I argue that it is more important than ever to connect history to the present in our classrooms and offer insights into how a pedagogy of vulnerability might lead to reconciliation despite the right’s efforts to foment division and polarization.