“The Pillars of the Earth”, “Good bye Lenin”, “The White Ribbon” or Guido Knopp’s TV “histotainment”: public interest in history seems to be booming. Historical themes for cinema, television and literature are proving to be a winning recipe. In contrast, interest in history as an academic discipline doesn’t seem to follow this popular trend and is surprisingly small. On the other hand, the way the public at large perceives history is an important focus of present-day history research. This contradiction has prompted students in the History Department at the University of Bremen to take a closer look at the topic. On their own initiative they have organized a symposium entitled “History and the Public”, which will take place at the University of Bremen on Friday and Saturday 18th and 19th February 2011. The event has attracted students from all over Germany who will present and discuss papers on the topic.
In addition to this, at 8 p.m. on 18th February there will be a public panel discussion in Haus der Wissenschaft on the topic “History and the Public. Between Academic Standards and Pure Entertainment”. Members of the panel include Dr. Irmgard Zündorf (Free University of Berlin) Dr. Sabine Horn (University of Göttingen) and Professor Inge Marszolek (University of Bremen). The discussion will be chaired by Maximilian Brunegraf (student organization team). The central questions addressed by the panel are: What approach should the academic discipline of history adopt towards popular media and media formats? Should the public dissemination of research findings meet academic standards or merely be subject to laws of the market? What position should historians and history didactics adopt towards histotainment? Can historians maintain academic standards in the public dissemination of research results or is it necessary to make compromises in order to reach the public at large?
More information (in German) at: www.symposium-geschichte.uni-bremen.de
Photo: Egon Endrenyi © Tandem Productions GmbH / Pillars Productions (Ontario) Inc.
