Nostalgia and the Transformation of Working-Class Heritage

Partners

• Durham University
• Beamish: The Living Museum of the North

Nostalgia and the transformation of working-class heritage develops an interdisciplinary methodology to present a radical framework for rethinking sites of working-class heritage, from relatively homogenous, celebratory depictions to stories that situate the classed past in global and colonial contexts. Designed with Beamish Living Museum, this project engages with current heritage debates on nationalism, emotion and colonialism but goes beyond them to include ‘classed’ nostalgia, typically neglected in scholarship. The student will interrogate the nostalgia at work in the Museum to identify how the ‘whiteness’ of working-class heritage can be transformed to generate ‘honesty without hostility’ in museum policy and practice.