Peter Carr Seixas, Ph.D.

University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

Professor Seixas’ research has helped to transform scholarship on historical thinking among children and adults, and contributed to the theorization of historical consciousness. A high school social studies teacher in Vancouver, BC until 1990, Seixas retired in June 2016 from his positions as professor in UBC’s Faculty of Education and as Director of UBC’s Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness and became Professor Emeritus.

At the NCSS Annual Conference, Dec. 2-4, 2016, Washington, D.C., in an interview style session, long-time friends and colleagues Terrie Epstein and Carla Peck called on Seixas to reflect upon the course of his career, from his trial-by-fire teaching social studies in North Philadelphia in 1969-70, through his research on how young people understand the past, to his impact on social studies curriculum, teaching and textbooks across Canada and internationally during the past decade.

Seixas edited collections include New Directions in Assessing Historical Thinking (2015) with Kadriye Ercikan, Theorizing Historical Consciousness (2004), and Knowing, Teaching and Learning History: National and International Perspectives (2000) with Peter Stearns and Sam Wineburg. He is also a co-author of The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts (2013) and Canadians and Their Pasts (2013). His contributions have also been recognized with (among others) the Canada Research Chair in Historical Consciousness (2001-2014), a fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada, the American Studies Association’s Constance Rourke Award, the American Historical Association’s William Gilbert Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada.

About the NCSS Jean Dresden Grambs Distinguished Career Research in Social Studies Award.