220065 Alternative Historiographies (S) (WiSe 2025/2026)

When interpreting historical events, historiography followed a prevailing opinion, which often enough corresponded to the political legitimisation interests of those in power. At the same time, however, there were always minority positions that proposed alternative interpretations of historical events, which were sometimes adopted only some decades later under changed social circumstances, but were often soon completely forgotten again. The Master's module is dedicated to such "alternative historiographies" from a comparative European perspective. The temporality and social functions of historiography will be discussed with a focus on the outsiders of contested and conflicting historical narratives.
The Master's module is organised as a BIP ("blended intense program") within the framework of the European University Alliance Neolaia network together with the universities of Tours (France), Örebro (Sweden), Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Suceava (Romania). Both courses in the module (220064 & 220065) are put together into a four-hour seminar course, combining attendance phases at Bielefeld University, online events together with the partner universities via Zoom, and a joint block phase in Tours from 23-27 March 2026. The stay in Tours is funded by an Erasmus+ grant, so the number of participants is limited. An application for a place in the seminar is required in advance. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of places available, the decision will be made by drawing lots. More information on the application procedure will be available here shortly.