'What is History For?'
- Location
- Hybrid: in person and via zoom
- Dates
- Thursday 12 May 2022 (10:00-20:00)
History is the study of the past. Yet the past is always in dialogue with the present.
This one-day conference explores what History is for, now. In a series of thematic panels which engage current issues in our contemporary world, we examine the value of History and the values that drive historians. Why is historical knowledge so important? What work can historical practice perform for us? What might a historical perspective allow us to see?
Speakers include Brad Argent (Head of International Programming at Ancestry), Simon Jackson (History, Birmingham), Tionne Parris (University of Hertfordshire), Jonathan Reinarz (History of Medicine, Birmingham), Lucie Ryzova (History, Birmingham) and Isaac Saney (Dalhousie University) and Frank Uekotter (History, Birmingham). A closing roundtable includes Professor Emma Griffin (President of the Royal Historical Society and History, University of East Anglia), Charlotte Holmes (Cultural Heritage Curator, National Trust, Midlands) and Dr Kate Skinner (African Studies and Anthropology, Birmingham).
This will be a hybrid event, taking place in person and online. You are welcome to attend the whole day or specific sessions of interest to you. If you are registering to attend online, a Zoom link to this event will be sent to you closer to the date.
Please see below for our schedule, we will add further detail as and when confirmed.
10:00 Coffee and Introductions
10:15-11:45 Panel 1 – Pandemics and Crises
11:45-12:00 BREAK
12:00-13:30 Panel 2 – Public Engagement
1:30-14:15 LUNCH
14:15-15:45 Panel 3 – Race and Colonialism in an Age of Climate Crisis
15:45-16:00 BREAK
16:00-17:30 Panel 4 – Afterlives
17:30-18:00 BREAK
18:00-20:00 Roundtable discussion: ‘What is History For?’
Speakers include Professor Emma Griffin (President of the Royal Historical Society and History, University of East Anglia), Charlotte Holmes (Cultural Heritage Curator, National Trust, Midlands), Dr Michala Hulme (Department of History, Birmingham), Dr Tom Cutterham (Department of History, Birmingham) and Dr Kate Skinner (African Studies and Anthropology, Birmingham).
For any questions please contact Professor Karen Harvey: k.l.harvey@bham.ac.uk