History in Crisis(es)?

Languages of the event: English and French

Teaching history through crises?

Democracies throughout Europe are facing a relentless rise of populism and nationalism along with the conflicts and socio-economic risks they bring, all the while witnessing a surge of all forms of hate speech. Quality history education can act as a safeguard against these tendencies, or at least help us to understand them and why they occur. So how can we ensure that the younger generations are getting quality history education?

Is history teaching in crisis?

The Council of Europe is actively involved in the fight against hate speech and disinformation, particularly in the context of the instrumentalisation of history.

In line with the resolution adopted by the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education on 29 September 2023, the 4th OHTE Annual Conference will also focus on young people and learners, by embodying the new policy of the Education Department of the Council of Europe: #LearnersFirst.

DRAFT PROGRAMME*

WEDNESDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2024

14:00 – 16:00 - (offline) Pre-conference workshop. Fighting against frake news and manipulation of history: A democratic challenge for young people

In the era of rapid technological advancement and the pervasive influence of social media, the proliferation of misinformation and deliberate historical distortions has become increasingly prevalent and often used for political ends. While no age or socio-professional category is exempt from these worrying phenomena, which undermine critical thinking and reason, the younger generations are particularly exposed to these abuses. Any educational shortcomings in this area can contribute to the abandonment of the democratic and humanist values defended by the Council of Europe. Fake news and the manipulation of history are a major challenge facing the future of democracy but how can we help young people to combat these phenomena?

Moderation: Tobias FLESSENKEMPER, Head of Youth Department, Council of Europe

PANEL

Vincent FLIBUSTIER, Media and Fake News Education trainer

María SABIOTE, Secondary Education History Teacher in IES Foramontanos, and member of Caleidoscopo – DICSO Research Group, University of Murcia

Lauren PRAY, Executive Committee member of the European Students’ Union (ESU) and member of the GT-HIST of the Council of Europe

Presentation of the HISTOLAB Toolkit for History Classes: Debunking Fake News and Fostering Critical Thinking by Eve RYAN, HISTOLAB Project officer

THURSDAY, 5 DECEMBER 2024

09:00 - 09:45 - Opening of the conference

OPENING WORDS

SG/DSG of the Council of Europe

Claude MEISCH, Minister of National Education, Representative of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Committee if Ministers of the Council of Europe, Luxembourg

Moderation: Alex TAYLOR, European journalist

OPENING SESSION

Zhanna ANDREASSIAN, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Armenia

Kyriakos PIERRAKAKIS (TBC), Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sport, Greece

Dan PERCIUN (TBC), Minister of Education and Research, Republic of Moldova

Andela JAKSIC-STOJANOVIC, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Montenegro

Tomáš DRUCKER, Minister of Education, Research, Development and Youth, Slovak Republic

Mychailo WYNNYCKYJ, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Ukraine

Alain LAMASSOURE, Chair of the Governing Board of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

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09:45 - 11:15 - The return of history in the present

Moderation: Matjaž GRUDEN, Director for Democracy, Council of Europed

PANEL

Luuk VAN MIDDELAAR, Founding director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics and Professor at Leiden University

Pap NDIAYE, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the Council of Europe

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11:30 – 13:00 - Plenary session 1. Ukraine in Europe: A gap in historical narratives?

Moderation: Alex TAYLOR, European Journalist

PANEL

Mychailo WYNNYCKYJ, Deputy Minister of Education, Ukraine

Timothy SNYDER, Professor of history, Yale University, USA

Yaroslav HRYTSAK, Director of the Institute for Historical Studies, National University of Lviv, Ukraine

Serhii PLOKHIY, Professor of Ukrainian history, Harvard University, Ukraine

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14:30 - 16:00 - Plenary Session 2. Crises in Europe - What can history teach us?

It goes without saying that human history is punctuated by a variety of crises, each with distinct consequences, studied at all levels of education and in all member states of the Council of Europe. Despite our theoretical knowledge of past crises, current and future crises share a common obstacle: their occurrence is often difficult, if not impossible, to predict regardless of their nature. Consequently, studying historical crises in order to identify the strategies that were used to overcome them seems a promising approach in the effort to avoid repeating past mistakes and, ideally, preventing them altogether. In recent years however, the fact is clear: Europe has gone through and continues to grapple with economic and health crises, all while experiencing major conflicts and total humanitarian crises. Is this symptomatic of an inability to draw inspiration from the past to manage and protect against these crises, or are crises an enduring challenge for humanity?

Moderation: Alex TAYLOR, European journalist

PANEL

Bilgin AYATA, Professor of Southeast European Studies, University of Graz

Harold John COOK, Professor of the History of Medicine, Brown University

Tal BRUTTMANN, Historian and Member of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah

Peter GAUTSCHI, Professor of History Didactics and Teachers Trainer, University of Teacher Education Lucerne

Caitriona NI CASSAITHE, Assistant Professor in History Education, Dublin City University

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16:30 - 18:00 - History, a subject in danger?

History is a science and, like any science, it is based on scientific, factual and verified analysis. However, despite the scientific approach that should be the norm in its teaching, history can be interpreted very differently depending on who you talk to. More worryingly, history can be hijacked and manipulated to serve political discourse and construct narratives that are bellicose, discriminatory and promote values that run counter to democratic ideals. There has been a marked increase in misinformation and distortion of history, fuelled by various sources (political and social debates, conflicts, etc.), especially online, which can leave history teachers at a loss and even in danger. If history is misused in this way, is there a risk that it will become a tool of mistrust rather than of trust? And, to borrow the title of Francis Fukuyama's world-famous essay, we might ask: is this the end of history?

Moderation: Villano QIRIAZI, Head of the Education Department, Council of Europe

PANEL

Semih AKTEKIN, Rector of Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University and Member of the Governing Board of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

Ann-Laure LIEVAL, Member of the OHTE Scientific Advisory Council, Professeure agrégée of History, Lycée Fénélon, Lille

Mario CARRETERO, Professor of Psychology and Education, Autonomous University of Madrid

Slobodan MARKOVIC, Professor of History and political anthropology, University of Belgrade

Luke GAUCI, History student, winner of the 4th Annual Conference call for projects, Malta

FRIDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2024

9:00 - 10:15 - OHTE Talk 2. History at all costs?

Moderation by Aurora AILINCĂI, Executive Director of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe and Head of the History Education division, Council of Europe

Kristina SPOHR, Professor of International History, London School of Economics

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10:30 - 12:00 - Plenary Session 4: WHY TEACH THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC CRISES?

In 2025, the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe will present its 2ème thematic report on "Economic crises in history teaching", the subject of which is obviously linked to the theme of this Annual Conference.

Moderation: Raul CÂRSTOCEA, Vice-Chair of the OHTE Scientific Council, Senior Lecturer in European History, University of Maynooth

PANEL

Steffen SAMMLER, Historian at the Georg-Eckert-Institute (Leibniz Institute for Educational Media) and Senior Lecturer at the Technical University of Braunschweig, co-ordinator of the group of experts responsible for drafting the OHTE’s 2nd thematic report

Marco COKIC, PhD student in economic history, London School of Economics

Marilia GAGO, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Education, University of Minho

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12:00 - 13:00 - Closing session

Moderation: Marja RUOTANEN, Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity, Council of Europe

PANEL

Gerhard ERMISCHER, President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe

Despina CHATZIVASSILIOU, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Mathieu MORI, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

CONFERENCE REPORT

Laura DUSHI, Student, Faculty of History, University of Strasbourg

Adel EIFERT, Student, Faculty of History, University of Strasbourg

CLOSING WORDS

Alain LAMASSOURE, Chair of the Governing Board of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

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15:00 - 17:30 - (offline) Side Event

Palais Universitaire de Strasbourg, Amphitheatre 119 (free entrance, only in French)

Meeting and debate with Yann Bouvier, professor of history, author and video producer - MICROCOSMS – HISTORY ON A HUMAN LEVEL

Yann Bouvier, a secondary school history and geopolitics teacher, lecturer on a Master 2 programme in public history and associate researcher at the CMMC (Université Côte d'Azur), has been producing popular history videos under the pseudonym @yanntoutcourt since 2020. With rigour and humour, he sets out to deconstruct preconceived ideas and pseudo-historical statements.

Welcoming words: Michel HUMM, Dean of the historical science faculty of the University of Strasbourg

Moderation and animation: Célestin BERTHELOT, Project Officer at the Observatory in History Teaching in Europes

*some speakers are to be confirmed.

The Annual Conference is organised by the Council of Europe with the financial support from France and Andorra and in partnership with the City of Strasbourg, the Grand-Est Region, the European Collectivity of Alsace and the French Government. The three-year "Strasbourg, European Capital" 2021-2023 contract signed by these local authorities on 9 May 2021 confirms their support for the Observatory for History Teaching in Europe.