On Friday, March 13, 2026, VGN – the association of history and civics teachers in the Netherlands – together with the History Department of Erasmus University Rotterdam, will organize the National History Education Conference for the tenth time. This time it will be held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with the theme "Boundless History: Migration Through the Ages."
The tenth National History Education Conference places migration at its center – a theme that is both timely and timeless. From the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa to contemporary refugee flows: the movement of people forms a constant in history that offers concrete starting points for history teachers.
Migration connects major historical processes with recognizable human experiences. By studying the Migration Period, for example, students understand how the fall of the Roman Empire was connected to migration flows. The arrival of guest workers in the 1960s makes economic globalization tangible. These examples show how migration makes abstract concepts like "identity formation" and "cultural exchange" concrete.
The migration perspective renews how we view familiar periods. The Golden Age takes on a different dimension when teachers highlight the role of refugees from the Southern Netherlands. Classical civilizations come alive by focusing on traders and colonists. The migration approach encourages students to adopt multiple perspectives, critically analyze cause-and-effect relationships, draw connections between historical and contemporary migration, and study primary sources such as diaries and letters from migrants.
The conference offers a varied program with lectures and interactive workshops. Participants can explore both theoretical frameworks and practical classroom applications. Let yourself be inspired and enrich your lessons with the boundless stories that migration has to offer!
See the VGN website for more information and the program.
