The IPG analyses ‘historical practices’ in the public domain. It examines how history and/or historians have functioned in the past and in the present.
1. History as legitimation
- (Political) commissioned history (for example: research commissions, large public initiatives and so on).
- History as political and social instrument (People’s history, folk culture, backyard history).
- History as (political) consciousness.
- The use and abuse of history.
- History in public spaces (commemorations, monuments, lieux de mémoire).
- History and historians in juridical and political contexts (lawsuits [ war crimes, negationism, litigation] transitional justice [truth commissions and so on]).
2. History as ‘format’
- Museums:
history and historians in (historical) museums, exhibitions and theme parks. - Film and television:
historical documentaries (radio and television), historical fantasy films, historians as media figures (TV experts), waves of interest in history and so on. - Literature:
historian/novelist, historical imagination, stories in history, history in stories, history in the theater. - Art:
history as inspiration, the artist as medium of the past, artisit-historical imagination, history as heritage. - Heritage and Patrimony:
history as an (im)material testament of the past. - Written media:
history in newspapers and magazines, historians in journalism. - Computer and the internet:
virtual historical reality, historical games, historical cyber-communities.
3. History as social practice
- History as a hobby.
- Local and family history.
- Applied folk history.
- Collecting.
- Re-enactment.
- Construction and hosting of historical websites.
- Historical tourism.
- Visiting historical exhibitions.
- Etc.
4. History as instruction
- History in education.
- The history of historical education.
- Theories of education and pedagogy and the importance of history.
- Didactic methods and media.
- Textbooks and educational material.
5. Methods and skills that are relevant to one or more of the historical practices mentioned above.
- The analysis of images, narrative and techniques of visualization.
- Heuristics of historical sources and media intended for the public.
- Oral history.
- Styles of writing.
- Laws about privacy, access, borrowing, intellectual property and copyright.
- The budgeting of historical projects.
- Analysis of historical interests.