Welcome to The Heritage Education Journal (THEJ), a publication of The Heritage Education Network (THEN). THEJ is an online, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary professional journal that aims to serve the needs of heritage educators by exploring different issues.
Our goal is to publish one volume of the journal per year. Each journal volume contains a body of articles focused on a topic, examined from the perspective of a number of different heritage professions. Topics will vary—from the latest thinking on a key issue to providing information on resources appropriate for different educational levels. The first issue of THEJ, free to everyone via this web page, poses the question, “How is heritage education defined and practiced in your profession and/or your country?” The articles present diverse professional and international perspectives on this topic, as well as cross-country comparisons.
Cultural heritage, its loss, and its preservation form the theme of the second volume. Specifically, we are seeking articles that explore the role of heritage education in supporting memory, identity, resilience, cultural legacy, and self-empowermentin the face of threats of erasure. What works and what does not work? What are some best practices we can adopt?
Cultural heritage has been recognized as an important glue holding people together on local, regional, and national levels. Political and other forces attempt to control narratives about the past, especially where they fear losing power, which is increasing the number and intensity of attacks on heritage in different parts of the world. For example, in Ukraine the Russians are deliberately trying to rewrite history by looting museums, destroying sites, and killing cultural figures with the goal of obliterating Ukrainian identity. Heritage education can play a crucial role in forestalling and combating that kind of erasure. THEJ’s second volume will explore how.
If you are interested in contributing to this volume, please follow the style guidelines for submissions on this web page and send your manuscript to the email below. Articles of general interest, but not necessarily related to the central topic, will also be considered. In addition to articles, THEJ volumes can present forum discussions about the volume’s theme in order to stimulate dialogue among readers. This format allows one author or a group of authors to present an opinion and solicit responses to it from other professionals (see example in THEJ Vol. 1). The published forum presents both opinion and comments together. All articles, including forum contributions, are double blind peer reviewed by colleagues in the appropriate profession(s).
Please note that, while THEJ’s first volume is free, future issues, beginning with the second volume, will be available only as a benefit of membership in THEN. To join, please click on the Membership link. For questions about the journal and the submission process or ideas for articles, please write to me at the email below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Eleanor M. King, Ph.D.
Editor
The Heritage Education Journal
journal@theheritageeducationnetwork.org
Editorial Staff
Eleanor M. King, editor
Douglas Rocks-Macqueen, webmaster
Editorial Advisory Board
Mitchell Allen
Research Associate
University of California at Berkeley & Smithsonian Institution
Berkeley, CA, United States
Max A. van Balgooy
President
Engaging Places LLC
Rockville, MD, United States
Elaine Franklin
Director Emerita
Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership, North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC, United States
Jeanne M. Moe
Chair
Institute for Heritage Education
Bozeman, MT, United States
Mayumi Okada
Associate Professor
Center for Advanced Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Barbara Sommer
Owner
BWS Associates
Mendota Heights, MN, United States
Georgia Stannard
Lecturer
Department of Archaeology, La Trobe University
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Andy Mink
Undersecretary of Education
Director, Rural Initiatives
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
Current Issue
The Heritage Education Journal
Volume 1
March 2023
Editor’s Corner
Introducing The Heritage Education Journal (THEJ)
Articles
Heritage Education and Oral History
Barbara Sommer
Laboratories as Heritage Sites: Linking Ethics, Research and Education – Coming Soon
Rachel Watkins
A Cultural History of Archaeological Education
Carol J. Ellick
When Heritage Meets Education: Reflections on Past and Contemporary Policy in Flanders
Joris Van Doorsselaere
Teaching and Learning About Cultural Heritage Within Archaeology in Australia
Georgia L. Stannard, Keir Strickland, and Melissa Marshall
Conceptualizing Heritage Education in Contemporary Japan
Mayumi Okada and Amanda Gomes
Why Does Archaeology Matter? Archaeology Across Different Countries and Teaching Approaches
Laura Arias-Ferrer, Alejandro Egea-Vivancos, A. Gwynn Henderson, Linda S. Levstik,
Christian Mathis, Helena Pinto, and M. Jay Stottman
Forum
A Conversation on Heritage, Archaeology, and Education in the United States
Eleanor M. King, A. Gwynn Henderson, and Jeanne M. Moe, with comments by Sara
Chavarria, Walter Fleming, Ayana Omilade Flewellen, Alexandra Jones, Robert Kelly,
Allison K. McLeod, Sarah L. Miller, Teresa Moyer, Elizabeth Reetz, and Jack Rossen