In Experiencing the Past Michael Shanks presents an animated exploration of the character of archaeology and reclaims the sentiment and feeling which are so often lost in purely academic approaches.

In Experiencing the Past Michael Shanks presents an animated exploration of the character of archaeology and reclaims the sentiment and feeling which are so often lost in purely academic approaches.

"In Experience History, we suggest a bit of the substance and flavor of the process by examining some of the debates and disagreements around a particular historical question. We place the reader in the role of historical detective."--Provided by publishers.

Some people make photo albums, collect antiques, or visit historic battlefields. Others keep diaries, plan annual family gatherings, or stitch together patchwork quilts in a tradition learned from grandparents. Each of us has ways of communing with the past, and our reasons for doing so are as varied as our memories. In a sweeping survey, Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen asked 1,500 Americans about their connection to the past and how it influences their daily lives and hopes for the future. The result is a surprisingly candid series of conversations and reflections on how the past infuses the present with meaning. Rosenzweig and Thelen found that people assemble their experiences into narratives that allow them to make sense of their personal histories, set priorities, project what might happen next, and try to shape the future. By using these narratives to mark change and create continuity, people chart the courses of their lives. A young woman from Ohio speaks of giving birth to her first child, which caused her to reflect upon her parents and the ways that their example would help her to become a good mother. An African American man from Georgia tells how he and his wife were drawn to each other by their shared experiences and lessons learned from growing up in the South in the 1950s. Others reveal how they personalize historical events, as in the case of a Massachusetts woman who traces much of her guarded attitude toward life to witnessing the assassination of John F. Kennedy on television when she was a child. While the past is omnipresent to Americans, "history" as it is usually defined in textbooks leaves many people cold. Rosenzweig and Thelen found that history as taught in school does not inspire a strong connection to the past. And they reveal how race and ethnicity affects how Americans perceive the past: while most white Americans tend to think of it as something personal, African Americans and American Indians are more likely to think in terms of broadly shared experiences--like slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and the violation of Indian treaties." Rosenzweig and Thelen's conclusions about the ways people use their personal, family, and national stories have profound implications for anyone involved in researching or presenting history, as well as for all those who struggle to engage with the past in a meaningful way.

‘Through a series of excellent essays this volume uses concrete ethnographic analyses of memory practices in different parts of the globe to offer theoretical reflections on how memory shapes and is shaped by mobility in time and space.’ - Marianne Hirsch, Columbia University, USA ‘Memories on the Move is a brilliant edited volume that fills an important gap in the field of memory studies as it weaves together issues of mobility and remembering. Drawing on fine-grained ethnographical cases, it offers a rich and complex portrait of mnemonic constructions in the context of forced migration, exile and transnationalism. It is clearly a must-read for anthropologists, sociologists, historians and political scientists as well as for all scholars interested in the contemporary dynamics of memory, identity and mobility.’ – David Berliner, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium ‘This thought-provoking volume disentangles, ethnographically, the complexity of meaning-making practices of memory/forgetting in various contexts of (im)mobility.’ - Noel B. Salazar, University of Leuven, Belgium Bringing together vivid ethnographic material, this book opens up a timely conversation between memory and mobility/migration studies. It goes beyond the idea of the nation state as the primary unit of analysis to explore how people on the move use different forms and media of remembering to make sense of their lives and act as political subjects. Investigating when and by what means people on the move remember and communicate memories in the context of various forms of (im)mobility, the authors examine photographs, films, the reinhabiting of pre-exilic homes, pseudo-historical performances, transgenerational mnemonic gatherings and transnational political activism. This edited collection will appeal to scholars of anthropology, sociology, political science, human geography, history and oral history.

The concept of reincarnation has been around for thousands of years, and is a part of many religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. In addition to these religious beliefs, many people believe it offers an explanation for the mysteries of life. There are children that claim to remember previous lives as adults or even animals. These claimed memories might affect the development of the child and be incorporated into the child's personality. This book presents an in-depth look at Dr. Stevenson's forty years studying children who claim to remember previous lives. It is an informative, professional read that dispels common misconceptions about reincarnation and offers an open-minded perspective. It provides an overview of the history of the belief in and evidence for reincarnation, with new material relating to birthmarks and birth defects, independent replication studies, and recent developments in genetic study. It also covers research on children, the methods used, the cases studied, and the analyses of the data. The idea of reincarnation is explored as an explanation for some unsolved problems in psychology and medicine. • INTRODUCTION TO REINCARNATION--Provides an introduction to the study of reincarnation, including a discussion of the belief in reincarnation. • VARIATIONS IN DIFFERENT CULTURES--Looks at how reincarnation is viewed in different cultures around the world and how it has changed over time. • EXPLANATORY VALUE OF THE IDEA OF REINCARNATION--The idea of reincarnation has been around for thousands of years, and many people believe it offers an explanation for the mysteries of life. • TYPES OF EVIDENCE FOR REINCARNATION--There are many types of evidence for reincarnation, including anecdotal evidence, case studies, and research studies. • TYPICAL CASES OF CHILDREN--Looks at typical cases of children who remember previous lives, with a focus on their characteristics. • METHODS OF RESEARCH--Discusses the methods of research and the various ways in which previous-life memories can be investigated. • ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF CASES--Analyzes a number of cases from the author's 40-year career.