Both “cyclical” and “teleological” views of history offer ways to learn from the past, writes Paolo Pombeni in the next issue. Il Mulino (Italy) Focuses on the use of history in education and media.
A cyclical view allows us to recognize certain problems as recurring, so we can draw on the resources provided by past efforts to address them. If we take a teleological view, we can find confirmation in the past that we are moving toward a better state. However, in today’s “age of individualism and singularity,” both approaches to the past are being abandoned. At the same time, the hierarchical structure within the academic field of history collapsed, the amount of research being produced increased explosively, and an academic “Babel” was born.
The most fundamental question, Pombeni writes, is how students encounter history for the first time in school. Specifically, “What history do we need in order to develop the tools of knowledge that we have at our disposal?”
Encyclopedias don’t work. It’s simply because the history is so vast. Instead, students must start with a past that they can understand using “concepts and knowledge” to which they already have “some connection.” Moralism must also be avoided, as it limits students’ ability to understand “complex realities” and encourages them to judge the past negatively. The purpose of history is not to condemn. Rather, Pombeni argues, it is to teach us “empathy and compassion.”
Teaching history
How should history be taught? More than most disciplines, Francesco Rocchi wrote, history is intertwined with “politics, personal memory, and different values.” When teaching, historians must figure out how to package “this plethora of perspectives, approaches, and tentative conclusions” into a coherent curriculum.
Current teaching guidelines often reflect the assumption that if students are taught only facts, they will learn to think critically. But in reality, students already have many “personal thoughts and beliefs,” some of which may be “strange and counterproductive.” After all, children actively build their own “conceptual structures”.
So how should history teachers proceed? Mr. Rocchi emphasizes that education should not be simply a matter of “lectures” or “indoctrination.” Rather, teachers must provide “a continuous, iterative cycle of feedback and dialogue.” That is the only way to a pluralistic and inclusive educational practice that truly respects students.
history of science
Monica Azzolini writes that although the history of science plays a “peripheral” role in Italian education, it is actually “an essential means of understanding current challenges.”
Azzolini offers three examples to demonstrate its value. In the case of botany, historians of science have used Italy’s excellent herbarium and museum collections to understand “long-term ecological change.” Botanical gardens also enable historians of science to investigate colonial history, demonstrating “how past scientific practices continue to shape our institutional and cultural present.” Finally, because historians of science “examine the social, cultural, and ethical implications” of innovations, their work is important for “developing more conscious, responsible, and inclusive uses” of artificial intelligence technologies.
In both cases, the history of science not only “reconstructs the past” but also “provides conceptual and material tools to guide contemporary decisions in important areas.” We are currently witnessing a “progressive devaluation” of the humanities, making it more important than ever to “reintegrate the history of science into public debate.”
popular history
People often complain that television has stopped playing a role in teaching history. However, Luca Barra and Matteo Marinello insist this is not true. In absolute terms, the amount of high-quality history programming has increased significantly in recent years.
However, despite the rich history of television, as historical programming becomes more “hybridized” with entertainment, it loses its “depth and complexity.” This leads to a “continuous negotiation” between the rigors of discipline and the demands of the television format. Producers often feel the need to establish a “direct link” to the present. Certain historical periods are preferred over others. And the presenter must negotiate between the roles of historian and entertainer.
Political history (also known as “dad history”) is particularly popular. However, as Barra and Marinello observe, this is not due to conservative tastes, but because political history’s popularity is an “assertion of relevance,” a “pathway to reconnecting with the present,” and “rediscovering less familiar historical figures.” The history of television, while making “inevitable and necessary compromises”, offers solace in “an increasingly uncertain contemporary moment”.
Marcel Gaucher
Historian and political philosopher Marcel Gaucher has always rebelled against intellectual trends. In a short interview, Gaucher discusses the relationship between history and democracy, the political history of religion, his own career, his colleague Pierre Nora, cancel culture, and the role of history in the current intellectual climate. He proposes a vigorous defense of history as “the most powerful instrument of democratic peacemaking at our disposal” if we can harness it well.
Review by Cadenza Academic Translations
Source: Eurozine – www.eurozine.com
