McDonald, JaredUnderhill, Jenni2014-07-282014-07-282014McDonald, J. & Underhill, J. 2014. "Making history familiar": The past in service of self-awareness and critical citizenship. Yesterday & today, 11:54-71, Jul. [http://www.sashtw.org.za/index2.htm] [http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/5126]2223-0386http://hdl.handle.net/10394/10917This paper explores the process of self-reflection undertaken by a History lecturer with a view to promoting the same type of critical awareness among a group of third- year History students at a South African university. The study draws on student experiences of and responses to a critical pedagogy that offered a deconstruction of past identities and enabled an emerging discourse of agency with contemporary relevance. By means of a qualitative methodological approach, openended, reflective questionnaires were used amongst a focus group to gauge student perspectives. The paper concludes that via creative and innovative pedagogy, History can become a vehicle for promoting self-awareness and in turn critical citizenship in South Africa’s current social context.enSelf-awarenessCritical citizenshipPedagogyIdentitySocial historyReflective practiceSubjectivitySocial justiceArticle