For a long time, scholarly minds have been divided on the question of the desirability and feasibility of a "European history book". The pioneering work of Delouche et al. at the beginning of the 1990s rather increased the skepticism. Further attempts to write such a work of history failed or failed at all. Can a new conceptual approach be found today in view of the retreat of essentialist conceptions of Europe, which sought to capture the "essence" of Europe in master narratives? Does the new information and communication technology (ICT) open up the possibility of presenting Europe's history and cultural heritage to students in a way that minimizes the negative effects inevitably inherent in a printed version of the "European textbook"?
-
Aims
The "Historiana" project, which was launched under the leadership of EUROCLIO, is making a new start. It is funded by the EU within the framework of the Comenius program and by the Anna Lindh Foundation. The GEI is involved as a partner, together with other scientific institutes, NGOs, European educational umbrella organizations, museums and archives from the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany. The aim is to create an interactive, multimedia online platform that will enable the learning and teaching of overarching themes in European history. The aim is not a comprehensive presentation of history, but rather to make it accessible by means of paths along time or space. Work on this has been underway since the end of 2009. The website historiana.eu, which has already been launched, provides a concrete insight into the structure and functioning. The core of the platform is a database with teaching materials that are didactically prepared and complementary to the usual curricula in history and geography. They are designed for intra-European comparison and multi-perspective view. Instead of a "correct" view of history, a transcultural dialogue about historical questions is aimed at.
-
Methodology
The project concept is guided by modern postulates of history didactics such as the integration of foreign perceptions into one's own world view, dialogical development of historical interpretations, rejection of the claim to absoluteness, interactive forms of learning and the binding nature of plural and open interpretations. The project takes arguments for the thematic focus from the discourse of historical science, which is based on the terms "interdependencies", "migration", "colonialism" and "social history". Furthermore, methodologically the comparative approach is used to a great extent, as this is the best way to achieve the claim to show European unity through diversity. Audiovisual sources and Internet offerings are to be given strong consideration. The GEI was involved in the conception and participates in the "Project Advisory Group" and the "Editing Team". Individual GEI scientists appear as authors.
-
Results
- Advice on creating materials, testing and evaluating teaching materials, workshop in Braunschweig, see historiana.eu
