Some Reflections on Public History in Canada Today

Abstract This article offers a reflection on the state of public history in Canada today. The authors focus on four particularly significant and related developments: the growth of the field within universities and colleges; the ways in which public history has helped re-shape research agendas; the influence of public history work outside academia; and Canada’s role in the ongoing process of what has been dubbed ‘the internationalization’ of public history. These developments reveal an intellectually rigorous, politically aware, and socially engaged public history that challenges boundaries in exciting and productive ways. The authors offer links so readers can explore recent controversies, issues, and debates in Canadian public history.