Seminar on 29 October 2026 at 13–17
Tieteiden talo (House of Science and Letters), Cedercreutz-hall (5. floor)
Celebrating the centenary of the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS/CISH), this seminar explores the importance of international scholarly networks, learned societies, and cross-border collaboration in historical research. It examines how research perspectives, theories, and paradigms have travelled across national, linguistic, and political boundaries, shaping the development of historical scholarship in different contexts.
The second part of the programme features the panel discussion Difficult Pasts, which will explore the political dimensions of history, the role of historians in public controversies, and the study of contested pasts from both national and international perspectives. Bringing together Finnish and international scholars, the seminar invites reflection on how ideas, approaches, and historians themselves have crossed borders, both in the past and in the present.
The seminar is organised by the Finnish National Committee of CISH operating in association with the Finnish Historical Society.
Registration for the seminar by 22 October. Registrations are being collected to help us plan the catering, but you are also welcome to attend the seminar without registering. After the seminar refreshment will be served at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki.
Program
Chair of the Seminar, Professor Jari Eloranta
13.00 Chair of the Finnish National Committee of CISH, Professor Marjaana Niemi: Welcome address
Professor emerita, Member of CISH Board 2021–2026 Gunlög Fur (Linnaeus University): Alle grosse Kunst lebt von dem geistigen Herzblut einer grossen Gemeinschaft – CISH and the possibilities of an international community of historians
Professor emerita, President of CISH 2015–2020 Marjatta Hietala (Tampere University): CISH: From the Cold War towards Transnationalism
Erkko Visiting Professor Anne McCants (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies): Reconstructing the Economic and Social History of the Cape Colony, South Africa: Collaborating across Difference
14.30 Coffee Break
15.00 Professor Jenny Andersson (Uppsala University): The Swedish Business Fund – situating free market ideology in the long twentieth century
Panel Discussion: Difficult Pasts
Chair, Associate Professor Oula Silvennoinen
Participants: Professor Gunlög Fur, Associate Professor Raita Merivirta, Professor Simo Mikkonen and Dr. sc. pol. Tero Toivanen
Professor Jari Eloranta: Closing Words
17.30 Social get-together (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Snellmaninkatu 14 A, 2nd floor, entrance from the inner courtyard)
Tapahtuma-ajat
- Alkaa:
- 29.10.2026 13:00
- Loppuu:
- 29.10.2026 17:00
- Tapahtumapaikka:
- Tieteiden talo (House of Sciences and Lettres)
- Osoite:
- Kirkkokatu 6
- Postinumero:
- 00170
- Postitoimipaikka:
- Helsinki