HI-225 Uses and abuses of History (Spring 2024)

After the completion of the course, the students shall

Knowledge

• have gained theoretical and empirical insight into how history has been and still is used to a) build national, regional, local, transnational, and other identities; b) to define, achieve, and legitimize political goals; c) to shape values, norms, and institutions; and d) to build brands as well as sell products and services.
• have knowledge of key academic debates related to history use, in particular around conflicts, wars, and histories of oppression and resistance and their aftermath, including the Second World War and European overseas colonialism.
• be familiar with various aspects of the relationship between historical research and historical (scientific) debates on the one hand, and history use in schools, media, memory cultures and popular culture on the other.

Skills

• be able to analyze the differences and tensions between history as an academic discipline, other public uses of history, social memories, and the construction of historical myths.
• be able to analyze various types of historical cases, which demonstrate how mass media, educational institutions, political parties and a variety of other actors consciously or unconsciously use and influence our perception of the past.
• be able to critically reflect on different types of memory processes based on concepts such as "historical consciousness", "history use", "collective memory" and "memory politics."
• be able to write a scientific paper: choosing a topic; finding and engaging academic literature; asking a research question; making an argument; discussing the evidence; chaptering; building paragraphs; referencing.

General competence

• have insight into the role and significance of history use in modern societies and in peoples’ daily lives.
• be able to participate in discussions and debates about history use in politics, social interaction and public life.
• apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases in the context of school teaching, the museum, the mass media etc.
• have gained better mastery of the basic processes of (academic) writing.

The course introduces the students to (a) the relationship between history as an academic discipline and the use of history, (b) the use of history in politics, nation-building and identity formation, as well as (c) various types of history use, as for example in education, commercialization and entertainment, in art and religion. The students will learn to analyze and discuss the use of history both within and outside educational institutions and museums, and in a broader social context.

Students also get to know theories relevant to the study of history use, as for example theories related to the formation of national and cultural identity, the phenomena of "imagined communities" and "invented traditions", as well as theories of communication and media.