Challenge me with a counter-narrative

When we think about it, what makes our intellectual engagement with object or subjects at museums not just memorable, but transformative? It is not just new information about an object. It is being asked and allowed to challenge our long-held assumptions, whether personal or communal. It is the result of this challenge that leads us to see the world in a fundamentally different way. It is engaging with the counter-narrative.

Professor Steve Horwitz discuses the importance of the counter-narrative in his article “The Importance of History.” Dr. Horwitz’s emphasizes the importance for classical liberals to present counter-narratives to traditional economic history with the task of challenging what students know about history and what they believe they know about history (italics added). He further explains that challenging students to consider their knowledge of history is important because such narratives color our response to present-day concerns.

Such challenges exist in museums but they tend to be few. More often than not museums believe that to present counter-narratives is too risky. Museums need our support to minimize such risk. Private funders should be rewarded for supporting counter-narratives. Publicly supported institutions should be rewarded for intellectually challenging the public they are said to be educating. Such statements are simplistic, ignoring the fact that transformations are difficult, even painful. We can start at the beginning, as Dr. Horwitz does -- facilitate more and more experiences that challenge visitors to consider what they know and what they believe they know about history.