Historical Empathy for Teaching and Learning History

Sara Karn is a Postdoctoral Fellow for Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future, based at McMaster University. She received her PhD in Education at Queen’s University, and her research explores historical empathy within history education in Canada. Sara is also involved in the Social Studies and History Education in the Anthropocene Network, a project that seeks to reimagine history and social studies education in response to the climate crisis. Her research has been published in journals including the Canadian Journal of Education, Historical Encounters, and Rethinking History. Sara is a certified K-12 teacher in Ontario, and she has taught environmental education for pre-service teachers.

Sara’s presentation offers a framework of historical empathy for teaching and learning history. This approach can contribute to developing historical understanding, encouraging open-mindedness towards diverse perspectives, and fostering a sense of care to engage in making change.