Public History and Marginalised Narratives in the Era of YouTube

YouTube has become an important public history platform, greatly reducing the barriers to entry faced by marginalised historical narratives that struggle for space on university courses as well as in museums, galleries, and heritage sites. 

But the platform is not without its difficulties and detractors. To what extent is YouTube a democratising agent in public history education? And what does the platform truly offer to the public historian of marginalised histories?

In this conversation, we will be joined by the co-hosts of the YouTube series, Zombie History, Dr Mzilikazi Koné, Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Studies at College of the Desert, California, and Elizabeth Grumbach, Director of Digital Humanities and Research at Arizona State University to discuss the opportunities and challenges for public history education in the era of YouTube.

Join us for this highly topical exploration at the intersection of public history, public education, and digital technologies to discuss the democratising qualities of YouTube as a public history forum.

Dr. Mzilikazi Koné is Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Studies at College of the Desert, California. 

Elizabeth Grumbach is Director of Digital Humanities and Research at Arizona State University

Zombie History is a highly innovative public history project hosted on YouTube that uses video content to platform marginalised historical narratives. It is part of the wider Zombified Media project started by scholars at Arizona State University to produce digital programming that supports interdisciplinary discourse on how to tackle the problems of today.