“History in a Time of Forgetting”

Introduction by series curators Dr. Jennifer Brady, Managing Director of the Inclusive History Project at the University of Michigan, and Dr. Camron Amin, Professor of Middle East and Iranian Diaspora Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Co-Director of Research for the U-M Inclusive History Project

2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—an anniversary that has loomed large this year in a variety of ways. This series came from a desire to name and explore the contradictions of a nation turning toward commemorating this anniversary while the current presidential administration aims to turn it away from the full and complex history that has brought us to this moment. Such efforts have sought to pare that history down into a version that conceals difficult truths, ignores complexity, and diminishes the experiences and contributions of many people within our nation. 

Our first thesis as the curators of this series, “History in a Time of Forgetting,” is that these current efforts to consolidate a particular version of US history represent a striking example of a regime of forgetting—though not the only one. 

What do we mean by “regimes of forgetting”?