National Histories in South-Eastern Europe and History of a United Europe |
This project was made posible through the generous support of the Higher Education Support Program of the Open Society Institute (Zurich/Budapest) |
The Seminar was organised by: Narrative Report |
Lectures: 1. "Alternative discourses? Romanian History in Textbooks and on the Internet" Lecturer: Bogdan Popa, Scientific Secretary of the Romanian-German Research Institute (Bucharest/Munich), Ph.D. Candidate in History. He exposed as study-cases the Internet sites with historic content: Government’s official web Page, "Romania Mare" party. Introducing concepts like: "dangerous" or "relevant" information and debating criteria for determining whether a site is relevant, appropriated for a historic academic approach. A very important issue: Internet availability in emerging democracies- technical problems, different languages in which documents are drafted, the existence of a certain reluctance in the case of aged researchers in using this type of information. 2. "Intercultural learning and teaching" Lecturer: Ms. Adriana Gheorghe, Institute of History of the Romanian Academy, Ph.D. Candidate, MA at the Central European University (Budapest) Defining research terms: culture (community of people that share language, traditions, system of values) ethnic group (belonging to the same ethnicity, language, having a very clear self-consciousness) integration (each of the two parts gives and accepts values) vs. assimilation (one of the actors completely accepts the standards of the other). Diversity is discussed on a national and an international level. Diversity between countries- lately we observe an enhancement of a dialogue between countries (Ex: co-operation between universities as they seek to harmonize institutionally-structure, academic credits, MA, pH programmes.). Internal diversity especially with reference to ways of integrating minorities. The Romanian case where textbooks for the minorities are accepted but in several cases they have a conflicting discourse in relation to the Romanian manuals. Creating a frame of direct inter-action and mutual learning can settle these discrepancies. Unfortunately, some of the minorities lack the will of drafting their own learning materials. The French study-case: The traditional communities: Bretons, the Germans in Alsace and Lorena. Not having a minoritarian language learning system, but lately optional courses of Breton Langue. People coming from the colonies. No courses in Arabic language or any other "colonial" language. The Scandinavian study-case: Excellent cultural integration but unfortunately limited to the Baltic area. 3. "The introduction of the Western European perspective within the study of the national histories" Lecturer: Ms. Lynn Dole, USA. Participants were divided into groups and asked to draft the content of a textbook of this region. Firstly, the questions regarded approaches and if they should be chronological or follow a different pattern. Most of the groups decided that political events should be chronologically structured whereas culture, religion social structure and organization should be comprised in separate chapters. When asked what were the main problems encountered, the participants mentioned: the large amount of information that has to be dealt with, difficulty in isolating the geographical area that denominates "the Balkans", finding the historical "truth" that will be accepted by all the nations in the region. Other subjects were used as discussion points: "What is the purpose of History?" or "What are the qualities of a good History teacher". The values generally accepted were: capability of evaluating sources, identifying bios, making comparisons, synthesizing information, sense of logic, making associations, good communication skills Special reports on the situation of other SEE countries: Bulgaria: emphasis on the lack of interest on behalf of teachers to use Internet as a research source. Students often are the ones "supplying" Internet-based information to their teachers. Acknowledging the general stereotype " Our nation is the best. Our neighbors are not". Therefore students from different countries would not easily find an agreement on the same historical events. The problem of alternative manuals. Although diversity, the content is often influenced by the "opinions" of sponsors and founders. The lack of relevant information with regard to the region of the Balkans. Generous time allocated to Western European countries, but a certain disregard towards medieval Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Greece. The issue of the Turkish minority is ignored, but there are recent certain changes. Macedonia : the content of the curricula; a four-period structured discourse: Antiquity, Middle Ages, The Turkish Rule. Modern History. Studying the history of Western European States but also relevant information about the Balkans. The Macedonian representatives considered the manuals as having a correct, reality-abiding content, although admitting to have only one official manual. Suggesting as main source of improvement in historical studies comparative learning, exchanges of teachers and students. Serbia: Main issues are: poor financial situation, ethnical cleansing, inadequate Serbian curricula as to what studying minorities is concerned. Having only one history manual. Studies showed that 95% of students want to study more national history and only 3% consider they should receive more information on the history of other States. Moldova: Having a good presentation of European history but a controversial curricula on the national history, mainly due to the three main conceptual approaches: considering Moldova an independent State, a part of Romania, or desiring a return to the USSR formation. USA Trainer, Ms.Lynn Dole (Institute for Training and Development, Amherst, MA) shared problems faced by the American teaching system: when attempting to research on the Palestinian problem discovered that all Palestinian web sites were blocked by the Internet Provided, probably due to fear of disseminating terrorist information and ideology. Workshops: Workshop I: Conspiracy Acknowledging that undeveloped economy can lead to nationalism. The main support for nationalistic attitude is the theory of conspiracy and the promotion of the "superiority complex". A favorite "conspirer" are the Secret services- foreign but even national ones. The conclusion was that traditional paternalism is to be avoided. Workshop II: Defending Europe The stereotype of Balkan states being the "defenders of Europe"- origins and how to deal with it in the future. For Serbia it appears as a provider for the sense of equality, a certain degree of confidence, military pride. For Romania a sense of superiority to compensate an acute sense of inferiority in comparison to the Western European countries. A general feeling of expecting compensation for the battles seen as fought for the Western Civilization. Combating such ideas can be done by emphasis on other values that define society besides military achievements. Workshop III: Continuity-the Myth The general continuity stereotypes were seen as evolving in connection with three main ideas: the ancestors, the territory, the civilization (language, religion, structure of the society) Romania: Ancestors were the Dacians and the Romans, territorial spread between western field of Pannonia and Mount Haemus in the south, Latin language, strong social definition especially in rural areas. Bulgaria: Ancestors were the Proto-bulgarians and the Slaves on territory that include also parts of nowadays Serbia, Romania Macedonia. Cultural continuity mainly due to the language (strong emphasis on the alphabet), Christianity, traditional social structure. Proposals for change Moderators: Bogdan Popa and Lynn Doyle
Evaluation session Moderator: Bogdan Popa Alternative discourses on subjects like: Contested areas, "the others", Great Powers, Leaders, Origins, Dual distinction. For most of the students it was a new, interesting and challenging experience, of learning and becoming aware of different, first hand, points of view with regard to the region’s history. Most of participants will use the information acquired in studying or teaching History, and are hopeful in the development of a new methodology and curricula. The multinational distribution of the participants was considered the main asset of the Seminar. The location was also greatly appreciated, as Timisoara reunites various ethnic communities, an excellent example of co-habitation and multiculturalism. Participants suggested that next trainings should have more informal meetings scheduled (sometimes students are intimidated when having to talk in a formal discussion). As a consequence, much emphasis can be put on the issues not officially exposed in their countries. Ms. Gheorghe acknowledged that changing mentalities should start with students and further events should focus on them. Ms. Lynn Dole suggested that the goal for the next training could be taking the next step, maybe going as far as drafting a real proposal for a textbook of the region’s history. Press Conference The public TV channel "TVR 1 - Timisoara" broadcasted a report on the works of the Seminar. The Executive President of the EUROLINK - House of Europe, Prof. Sever Avram, and the USA Trainer, Mrs. Lynn R. Dole, gave short interviews where they explained the role of the Seminar and the expected results of the whole project for Romanian educational system and the SEE curricula in the concerned field. |