Development of Public History in Australia

Abstract

The present article is aimed at demonstrating the importance of new for Ukrainian historiography direction of public history, for the country’s development and for strengthening its stance at the international arena. Australia is taken for an example, as it has turned from once remote Terra Incognita into one of the leading nations of the modern world. It is emphasized that, regardless of attainments, the identity issue is still as urgent as to other countries in the conditions of a global crisis. The sources of the public history trend are revealed, explained are the factors conducive to its spread planet-wise, attention is brought to the fact that this trend has become a natural result of developments in the science of history in the Western civilization, encompassing countries of Europe, the Americas, and Australia. The latter, being a ramification of the Western civilization branch, has adopted the guidelines outlined by American scholars, driven by pragmatic considerations. Steps are determined in the institutionalization of the said direction, a characteristic is given to the activities of the Australian Center of Public History at Sydney Technology University, of the journal “Public History Survey”, as well as to the specifics of their work in the digital era under the motto: “History for the public, about the public, together with the public”. The same motto is leading the historians working with local and family history, cooperating with the State in the field of commemoration, placing great importance on museums, memorials, monuments. Considering national holidays, particular attention is given to the National Day of Apology, reflecting the complications of Australian history. Like American public history, the Australian one began to give much attention to those groups of population that were previously omitted by the focus of research, namely, the aborigines. A conclusion is made regarding the importance of history in general and public history in particular for the implementation of the national identity policy – an important token of the nation’s stable and successful progress.