Tina van der Vlies was interviewed by EuroClio, the European Association of History Educators, about her ongoing NWO Rubicon research project ‘Why school history matters’ in the latest episode of the EuroClio podcast ‘Past Times – Talking and Teaching History’, a podcast series for and by history educators.
The aim of the podcast is to discuss topics and ideas that are relevant for the teaching of history, to inspire each other and learn from other community members. Tina van der Vlies and the host of the podcast, Andreas Holtberget, discussed several questions, tying in with the theme of EuroClio’s 28th Annual Conference: ‘What is history for?’.
Is there still a case to be made for history education in relation to a shared national identity, given the multicultural society and globalization on the one hand and the continued success of the nation state on the other? And if we choose to focus on historical thinking and historical skills instead, would that give extra space to nationalistic or populistic forces to hijack history education? The shift from history as a mandatory to an optional course in several countries is being discussed as well. What reasons can be given for this development?
Upcoming appearances
The Groninger Expertise Group for Theory & History of Education and Psychology invited Tina van der Vlies to participate in a roundtable on new trends in historical research, with a special emphasis on historiographic challenges in education. This roundtable is part of the international workshop ‘Historiography and science in times of war and dictatorship’. The workshop will take place in Groningen on June 9 and there will be a live stream as well: https://p2gonew.serverspace.rug.nl/P2G/Player/Player.aspx?id=2212-0074
Various international academics present their research and the roundtable on new trends in historical research starts at 2.30 PM. View the full program.
On June 10, Tina van der Vlies will present her research at the conference ‘Beyond Nuremberg: The Global Search for Accountability’, organized by The Historical Dialogues, Justice and Memory Network at the NIOD Institute for War Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam. She was invited for the international panel ‘Beyond Heroes and Villains: Memory and Representations of the Indonesian War of Independence 1945-1949’. Taking case studies from both countries, Indonesia and the Netherlands, this international panel will highlight the complexities of the war by showing the layers of memories of violence, exclusion of certain groups in the nation’s collective memory, and discuss representations in history textbooks. The other panel speakers are: Indah Wahyu Puji Utami (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Arif Subekti & Grace Leksana (Malang State University) and Esther Captain (KITLV).