International Conference “Attacks on History and Historians”

29. listopada 2026. Leave a comment

Attacks on History and Historians

Historical Studies, History Education, and Freedom

International Conference

Convenors: Sorin Antohi, Antoon De Baets, Andreas Holtberget, Ruben Zeeman

Academia Europaea Bucharest Hub

29-31 October 2026

Venue: University of Bucharest, Faculty of History

4-14, Regina Elisabeta Boulevard

Partners: International Commission of History and Theory of Historiography, Academia Europaea (Section of History & Archaeology), Network of Concerned Historians, EuroClio, Bucharest City Hall, ARCUB, University of Bucharest, Faculty of History, “Virtute et Sapientia” Foundation, Evergent Investments, Le Manoir.

Several years of work on the forthcoming Palgrave Handbook of Attacks on History, initiated and edited by Antoon De Baets, President of the International Commission of History and Theory of Historiography (ICHTH), have resulted in many public events, including two panels at the Sixth Network Conference of the International Network for Theory of History (INTH), Rethinking Historicity: Exploring Temporal Relations in a Changing World, held at Tallinn University (19-22 May 2026), and a panel at the Centennial Conference of the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS/CISH) (Leipzig, 26-30 August 2026). Our Bucharest encounter concludes the circuit.

It is be prefaced on 28 Ocrober by the IXth Royal Colloquium, under the High Patronage of His Royal Highness, Prince Radu of Romania, devoted to the discussion of the topic in the Romanian context and of the student press under Communism. Sadly, besides censorship, propaganda, and history rewriting, this context includes the assassination of historian N. Iorga by the Iron Guard, and the killing of many historians, such as Gheorghe I. Brătianu by the Communist regime. On 30 October, during a ceremony at Palatul Elisabeta, the XIIIth Cantemir Prize, linked to the Royal Colloquium, will be awarded to Antoon De Baets.

The event is open to the public, will be streamed, the recordings will be circulated and archived.

Participants

Gabriel Andreescu, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, SNSPA, Editor of Noua Revistă de Drepturile Omului, Member of Academia Europaea
Sorin Antohi, Executive Director, Academia Europaea Bucharest Hub, Member of Academia Europaea
Michael Antolović, Professor of Modern European History, University of Novi Sad
Irene Catania, EuroClio, European Solidarity Corps Volunteer
Andrei Cușco, Researcher, „D.Xenopol” Institute of History, Iași, Romania
Stefan Detchev, Professor of History, Anthropology and Political Sciences, New Bulgarian University, Sofia
Antoon De Baets, Emeritus Professor, University of Groningen, Member of Academia Europaea, President of the International Commission of History and Theory of Historiography
Arrovani Luis Fonseca, ANPUH, online
Matei Gheboianu, Professor and Dean, Faculty of History, University of Bucharest
Andreas Holtberget, Project Manager at EuroClio – European Association of History Educators
Dagmar Hovestädt, Expert in Transitional Justice, Adjunct Professor at the Irish Canter for Human Rights at the University of Galway
Marie-Louise Jansen, Co-founder, Contested Histories Initiative, The Hague
Marcos Leitão de Almeida, online
Noémi Lévy-Aksu, Director of the Memory and Peace Studies Program at Hafıza Merkezi (Truth Justice Memory Center), Istanbul
Andrei Pippidi, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Bucharest, online
Amy Reid, PEN America, online
Maria Repoussi, Professor of History and History Education, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, online
Bradley Reynolds, Historians without Borders, online
Timothy W. Ryback, Director, Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, The Hague
Indah Utami, Associate Professor in History Curriculum and Textbook, Head of the Department of History, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia
Cristian Vasile, Senior Researcher, “N. Iorga” Institute of History of the Romanian Academy
Johan Wasserman, South African Association for History Teaching, online
Joanna Wojdon, Professor of History, University of Wrocław
Gerben Zaagsma, Assistant Professor in Contemporary and Digital History, University of Luxembourg
Ruben Zeeman, Coordinator of the Network for Concerned Historians, online

Programme

Thursday, 29 October

14:00-16:00 I. Opening Session

Sorin Antohi, Opening Remarks, Moderator

Antoon De Baets, Attacks on History: A Human Rights Framework

Andrei Pippidi, Nicolae Iorga: A Life Devoted to History, a Death That Still Warns Us (online)

Cristian Vasile, Romanian Historical Writing During Stalinism

16:00-16:30 Coffee Break

16:30-18:00 II. Rewriting, Censoring, and Burning History

Moderator: Cristian Vasile

Andrei Cușco, The ‘Bessarabian Question’ and Its Long Aftermath: Propaganda, Historiography, and the Politics of Identity

Stefan Detchev, History within Communism, National Communism and Post-Communist Nationalism – Attacks on History and Historians in Bulgaria (1944-2024)

Ruben Zeeman, Burning Historical Works (online)

18:00 Reception

Friday, 30 October

10:00-11:30 III. Historians, Archives, the Digital World

Moderator: Antoon De Baets

Gabriel Andreescu, Two Interconnected Portraits: The Condition of the Historian Who Fled Communism vs. That of the One Who Remained

Dagmar Hovestädt, Archival Silences as Attacks on History: Case Studies from Private Archives and Conflict

Maria Repoussi, Why Is History Education Under Attack Worldwide? An Attempt at Answering and Interpreting (online)

11:30-12:00 Coffee Break

12:00-14:00 IV. History, Monuments, Education

Moderator: Dagmar Hovestädt

Michael Antolović, Attacks on History in Serbia 1945–2025

Marie-Louise Jansen and Timothy W. Ryback, Attacks on Monuments in a Global Perspective: Legal Frameworks, Tools for Protection, Case Studies

Gerben Zaagsma, Interventions in History Online

14:00-15:30 Lunch

15:30-18:00 Walking Tour (optional)

18:00 Bus transfer from the conference venue to Palatul Elisabeta

19:00 Palatul Elisabeta: HRH Prince Radu of Romania Awards the XIIIth Cantemir Prize. Reception. By invitation.

Saturday, 31 October

9:00-11:00 V. EuroClio Round Table Censorship and Self-censorship in History Education in Indonesia, Türkiye, and Poland

Moderator: Andreas Holtberget

Indah Utami, What Can Be Said about the Past? Negotiating Censorship and Self-Censorship in Indonesian History Education.

Noémi Lévy-Aksu, History as a Contentious Field in Türkiye: Official Ideology, Censorship and Counter-Narratives

Joanna Wojdon, Censorship in History Education in Poland:
A Historical Perspective on Today’s Concerns

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-13:30 VI. The Palgrave Handbook Project

Moderator: Sorin Antohi

Antoon De Baets, Editing The Palgrave Handbook of Attacks on History: Why has the study of attacks on history not become a field of its own?

Sorin Antohi, Attacks on History and Historians: Historicizing the Human Rights Paradigm

General Discussion

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-16:00 VII. EuroClio Workshop: Censhorship in History and History Education

Moderators: Andreas Holtberget, Ruben Zeeman

The speakers from the Roundtable, as well as Marcos Leitão de Almeida and Arrovani Luis Fonseca (ANPUH); Johan Wasserman (South African Association for History Teaching); Amy Reid (PEN America); and Bradley Reynolds (Historians without Borders), Matei Gheboianu.

Closing Remarks: Sorin Antohi