In December 2023, our “unconferencing” committee brainstormed on opportunities to redefine academic discourse and collaboration during the 2024 Historicidagen in Maastricht. In this post, we would like to share our ideas and invite fellow researchers, educators, and heritage professionals to suggest their own pioneering formats.
At the beginning of our meeting, we briefly defined what the theme of the 2024 Historicidagen, “Undisciplined History”, means to us and what the notion of “undisciplined” research has to do with transcending traditional conference formats. What excited us about undisciplining was that it looks like an invitation to do things differently. Different by reaching out to other academic disciplines, from sociology to biochemics, and by reaching out to communities with lots of knowledge and insights outside of universities. But also different by unconferencing our conference: away from lecture halls, and away with sitting passively behind a laptop. And finally, different by experimenting with different modes of learning, beyond the written or spoken word…
First of all, we agreed that “undisciplined” implies the use of interdisciplinary and creative methodologies and theories within academia. “Undisciplined history” fosters transdisciplinary collaborations between academics and experts in other fields, e.g. in social and cultural institutions. During our discussion of the planned keynotes, climate history combined with strategies for climate change management, was one of the topics that we considered representative of “undisciplined history” and which we would like to highlight in the “unconferencing” programme.
Formats in which climate history and approaches to climate change could play a part are embodied history events and collaborative engagements including activist groups or school teachers. In our brainstorming, we envisioned opportunities to physically explore local landscapes and combine shared experience and on-site observation with historical exploration. One regional focus could be Limburg’s mining legacy, which is a current issue in research projects and educational efforts at secondary schools. This format could encompass guided walks led by local historians, teachers, social workers, psychologists, museum curators, or artists, interspersed with discussions and a critical reflection on written sources and objects from the past.
View of Maastricht across the St. Servatius Bridge, photo by Giu Vicente on Unsplash
Similarly, a city-wide treasure hunt in Maastricht could combine socializing between colleagues with academic exchanges on the transformation of historic sites, the visibility of history in urban spaces, or issues of community engagement. Ideally, “unconferencing” will also mean leaving the lecture halls and classrooms to collaborate with local institutions such as the Sociaal Historisch Centrum voor Limburg and the Bonnefanten Museum. Maastricht’s amazing collection of medieval art might offer experts of the period opportunities to publicly showcase important themes of pre-modern history.
Bringing participants from different social and professional backgrounds together, we could also consider crafting a “Maas Charter” outlining visions for regional culture or the future of historiography. For this purpose, a tourist boat floating on the river Maas might be an inspiring setting that could also draw some public attention. Or we could offer academic speed-dating (for early career researchers) in a more informal setting.
Last but not least, our subcommittee considered the crossing of digital frontiers and the integration of virtual elements in our “unconferencing” programme. A collaboration with the digital studies lab The Plant at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in Maastricht could allow for hands-on zinemaking, or make a VR-based presentation of (digital) research projects from across the country possible. It may also be an option to film short interviews with Historicidagen participants and put together an after-movie that makes “undisciplined history” more accessible to people who do not read academic publications or do not normally take an interest in the work of historians.
Other ideas along these lines are, of course, most welcome and can be submitted via the official submission portal. Your insights and innovations are indispensable for the success of our event.
Monika Barget & Claartje Rasterhoff, on behalf of the Historicidagen organisers