Museums’ engagement with troubled pasts through the language of historical thinking

As heritage institutions dedicated to troubled pasts proliferate worldwide, museums have increasingly become central arenas for public engagement with difficult and contested histories. Existing emphasis on museums’ unique tools and methods for addressing troubled pasts as well as on the differences between informal historical tools applied in museums and formal historical thinking skills developed in education, has led to downplaying the place and role of historical thinking skills in museums and their versatility for dealing with difficult histories. Through a case study of two museums in Italy – the local Museo Africano in Verona and the national Museo delle Opacità in Rome – that address Italy’s colonial past and its enduring contemporary implications, the article demonstrates how museums can and in fact do employ complex and substantive forms of historical‑education concepts, adapted to their distinct socio‑political positions, institutional missions, and approaches to redressing historical injustices. The findings suggest that the integration of disciplinary historical-thinking concepts within museum practice by curators and museum staff is both feasible and context‑dependent, shaping how museums confront, interpret, and communicate contentious histories, and contributing to broader efforts to promote social responsibility and more just civic cultures.