History from Between: Global Circulations of the Past in East Asia and Europe

The East Asian Uses of the European Past  project, funded by the Humanities in the European Research Area, in collaboration with the British Library, is proud to announce a one-day conference on 1 April 2019 to discuss the creation of historical knowledge between East Asia and Europe from 1600-1950.

In two thematic panels and two keynote talks, we will explore how ideas about the past circulated and were repurposed within East Asian networks of exchange. Some of the questions we will consider include: how did East Asian actors use their understanding of European expansion to burnish their own colonial aspirations? What does it mean to say the Chinese had a ‘Middle Ages’—originally a way of talking about the history of and for Europeans? How might the maritime narratives of East Asians challenge how the past of cultural others is viewed?

The event will run from 10am-5pm in the British Library Knowledge Centre, with a smaller reception from 5pm-7.30pm. You can register for the day event (10am -5pm) at our  Eventbrite page. There are also a smaller number of tickets available to our evening keynote and drinks reception from 5pm-7.30pm. You can register for this through our separate Eventbrite page.

15past15: podcast on how the past is made, and by whom

15past15 is a new podcast which discusses how the past is made, and by whom. See here (and in iTunes).

Its first season focuses on history and history-writing in East Asia, from the sixteenth century to today. Interviewees debate the indigenous historical traditions of China and Japan in particular, and the ways that understandings of the past evolved at times of acute political and societal change. Our contributors teach East Asian and global history at leading universities in Germany, France, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, the USA and Canada, and they manage—just about—to stick to a fifteen-minute format. Interviews will be released weekly from 15 January 2019. 

15past15 has been made possible by a Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) grant.