Public history

On 27 September 2017, a new website was launched by CegeSoma (the Belgian Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society): Belgium World WarII. A virtual platform on Belgium and its population during WWII.

2018 will be the European Year of Cultural Heritage, as proclaimed by the European Union. The kick-off event for Luxembourg took place on 29 September.

Digital Media and Technology has transformed how we teach, learn and present. In a transferable skills training of the doctoral school here at university, Robert Reuter introduced us to new media and tools that can enhance teaching and learning. Based on the eight learning events defined by Leclercq and Poumay at the university of Liège, we came up with several online tools that can extend and enhance teaching and engage the students or audience.

Lecture by Prof. Michael Frisch, Talking Pictures LLC, New York

How do historians investigate the past? What methods and tools do they employ, what are they trying to understand, and how do they transfer their findings to society?

How can historians tell the story of European integration – the story of Europe – in the digital age?

Can video games be a serious research topic or are they only entertainment products? At the Gamescom Congress in Cologne, a series of talks and panel discussions were dedicated to video games from many different perspectives. In this blogpost, I will discuss some of them illustrating that video games can and should be taken seriously.

In this essay, I would like to reflect upon what happens when archival material and research are transferred into the three-dimensional physical space of a museum. A main focus will be on what happens when restored, digitised and partly retouched glass plates are framed and staged in a museum setting.

The fourth and final ForumZ of this academic year took place on 6 July at the Banque de Luxembourg. In an effort to provide a platform for “the critical discussion and academic study of questions related to the contemporary history of Luxembourg from a transnational perspective,”(1) the C²DH had invited five panellists along with moderator Bernard Thomas to discuss the ‘glocal’ history of the Luxembourg financial centre.

“Glanz und Elend der Kunstkopf-Stereophonie” – A radio play from Stefan Krebs, with Hans Peter Hallwachs as Kunstkopf; Stephan Wurfbaum as journalist and Andreas Fickers as media archaeologist; Research, script and mise-en-scène: Stefan Krebs; Sound: Christian Schimmöller; Producer: Werner Bleisteiner; Historical and technical advisors: Günther Hess and Stephan Peus. A production of the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History of the University of Luxembourg in cooperation with Bavarian Broadcasting and the EU-research project ORPHEUS, 2017.

Within the framework of the research project "Failure and Success of Dummy Head Stereo: An innovation history of 3D listening", Stefan Krebs and Andreas Fickers produced a binaural radio play about the history of binaural stereo.

Le samedi 17 juin 2017, le Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), en partenariat avec le Centre national de littérature (CNL), ont organisé la troisième édition de ForumZ.