ISCHE 45

Pre-Conference Workshop

As in previous years, ISCHE 45 offers the possibility of organizing a pre-conference workshop (PCW). Such workshops are small focused meetings that will take place on Sunday, 18 August 2024, immediately before the main ISCHE conference will start, and are considered integral parts of the conference.

PCWs are intended to provoke intellectual discussion, among a diverse range of participants, on a specific topic that does not relate to the conference theme. PCWs may also consist of workshops discussing critical issues, methods, theories emerging in the field.

PCWs may include some invited speakers and presenters, but must also include a public call for presentations. PCW organizers and presenters are expected to register and participate in the accompanying ISCHE conference. The overall number of attendees may be limited. ISCHE offers no financial support for such workshops, but conference registrants will be able to pre-register for PCWs at no additional fee.

Proposers should initially contact the Secretary of ISCHE, Angelo Van Gorp, for advice about preparing an application. After consultation, the conveners for a PCW should submit a proposal by 29 February containing the following information:

The names and contact details of the PCW conveners; A one-page argument stating the intellectual objectives of the pre-conference workshop (including how it is related to ISCHE goals); Evidence that the PCW’s objectives does not overlap with existing Standing Working Groups;

A list of potential contributors to such a workshop that demonstrates geographical diversity Indication of the length of the event (e.g., full day, half day, two hours) The ISCHE EC will decide on the acceptance of proposals. Once finalized, the program of the PCW is posted on the ISCHE conference website.

ISCHE Education & Pandemics Archive Workshop: Hands-on Digital Storytelling

Convenors: Karin Priem (University of Luxembourg) | Fanny Isensee (Humboldt University, Berlin) | Ami Kobayashi (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau) | Rafaela Rabelo (Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil) | Daniel Töpper (Humboldt University, Berlin) | Sarah Gröschl (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau)

After two successful workshops on the silences of COVID-19 web archives and digital source criticism, the ISCHE Education & Pandemics Archive Team has decided to offer a further edition of its training programme. This year’s workshop at ISCHE Natal in Brazil will encourage participation in hands-on digital history. We are inviting colleagues to create and submit small video clips (e.g. through Adobe applications) using digital sources from our archive that should be meaningfully compared or contrasted with additional materials from another source or digital collection.

We want the videos to address the possible histories of the COVID-19 crisis and the different ways we may look back on it, and how this may be inspired by digital technologies – their specific material quality and ways of interacting with humans. Our idea is to reflect on multiple temporalities and the effects of digital technologies: (1) how technologies shape memories; (2) how distant and more recent pasts interact with each other and with the present and the future; (3) how we could create other histories by comparing silenced or forgotten sources on grievances, ruptures and loss with materials that have been produced or even normalised via editorial processes; (4) and how the history of education can help us to reflect on the consequences of disruptive pasts and our present responsibilities in view of “the long now” (Brand 1999). In addition, we would like to explore and discuss how digital archives can be used and expanded by bringing together sources and people with different geographical backgrounds.

Our call for participation in the workshop provides five “BOXES”, each of which contains three pre-selected items/sources from the ISCHE Education & Pandemics Archive. We would ask participants to select one “BOX” and use its contents to create a video clip, adding more materials themselves. During the workshop, participants will be expected to show their videos and critically reflect on the process of digital storytelling and the different layers of history that come into play.

The workshop is limited to twelve participants. Those who are interested in participating are expected to take a proactive approach and send their videos to karin.priem@uni.lu and rafaelarabelo@alumni.usp.br by 15 May 2024 at the latest. We will accept videos in any of the ISCHE languages. Please let us know if you would prefer an in-person workshop in Natal on 18 August 2024 or an online workshop as part of the ISCHE online conference. Videos should not be longer than ten minutes and they may be the result of a collaborative process. There are plenty of free online tutorials on how to make a video that are also aimed at

Beginners, but please do feel free to email us if you need help. We would be happy to provide links to tutorials if needed. If there are more than twelve submissions, we will start a selection process based on how convincingly the central issues of the workshop have been taken into consideration. Those who register for the workshop agree that copies of their videos will be uploaded to the ISCHE Education & Pandemics Archive for public use.

More information: Workshop ISCHE Education & Pandemics Archive