European Association of History Educators

At present, most nations in Europe count large numbers of citizens whose immigrant or minority families do not share a common historical experience. Many Europeans are worried by the deepening of European integration and the extension of Europe with 'new' countries and have become increasingly xenophobic and intolerant. Historians and history educators face the challenge to deal with the heterogeneous historical culture. They cannot simply create ‘more inclusive’ historical narratives as the diverse student population also introduces different and frequently conflicting perspectives to give meaning to the ‘same’ events. To this respect, “Connecting Europe through History” offers room for multiple perspectives, intercultural dialogue and a European dimension create inclusive histories and lead to mutual understanding, tolerance and peace.
 

The Project “Connecting Europe through History – Experiences and Perceptions of Migration in Europe” ran by EUROCLIO, in collaboration with EVROAPEVM, the Association of Ten Leading Universities and the International Students History Associations, is a transnational initiative which aims to enhance mutual understanding among Europe’s citizens, and to share and boost cultural and linguistic diversity by tackling issues linked to movements of people as a common theme in European History.

 

Through a comparative research on the theme of Migration, the Project aims to profile the different ways in which European countries deal with similar challenges, and to which extent History Education is already part of this process. The results of this comparative research will be discussed during a series of national seminars, workshops and lectures in different countries around Europe, which will bring together prominent historians and researchers from the EVROAPEVM academic network, civil society representatives from the wide network of EUROCLIO National History Teachers Associations and Students of History Education, Culture and Heritage, Economics and Migration Studies from the network of ISHA. This large geographical spread across Europe facilitates the Project’s aim to offer a good insight into the knowledge and interpretation of Migration and Movement bringing Europe closer to the citizens and raise awareness of the trans-national idea. On the Project Website www.connectinghistory.eu the results of the comparative research are published and information about the upcoming events as well as the reports on the ones already taken is available.
   
Main Themes of the Project

• Connect and Reflect on Perceptions related to Migration. Participants will have the chance to interact to achieve a more prominent role for migration history in European History Education and, thus, contribute to a more inclusive Europe.
• Reflect on the Responsibility of a European Civil Society. The Project encourages initiatives for events from the civil society member – organizations. The core strategy to overcome the own border, is the regional outreach with representatives from member organizations of neighboring countries participating in events in a different country.
• Sharing Migration Experiences across boundaries of Religion, Culture and Ethnicity. Debates and exchange of views bring migrant background history teachers and representatives of migrant NGO’s together contributing to a constructive intercultural dialogue.

What has the Project to offer and to whom:

Teacher Trainers will learn more about new fields to train history teachers in a multicultural school surrounding
Academics of universities and migration research institutes will experience what aspects of their research can be used in education and are therefore relevant for society
Migrant NGO’s will find a platform for their migrant histories and will be able to find partners to have their story heard by the general public
National History Teachers Associations will be able to strengthen their public profile;
Students of History Education will learn about an aspect of history that is of vital importance for history education in an increasingly multicultural Europe.