About the Project

In the Balkans, no topic is more sensitive or divisive than the recent wars that marked the end of Yugoslavia. This makes teaching about this period of history very difficult. At the same time, there is a need and momentum to do this. Young people, who did not experience the war, are asking questions, and the wars have become a mandatory component of history education curricula in every country of the region that bears the scar of the conflict. Teaching about the wars is unavoidable, and should not be avoided.

How can teachers teach this event (or set of events) that are not yet considered “history,” yet are ever-present in media and cultural memory? How can teachers navigate the controversies of students’ personal family stories, contradictory national narratives, and competing ethnic victimhoods? How can they offer a balanced view of the wars for their students while meeting state curriculum requirements?

These are the questions that the project Learning History that is not yet History (LHH) began to tackle. As a result of its hard work and pioneering approach in a difficult region, the LHH team were awarded the Global Pluralism Award 2019 by the Global Centre for Pluralism (GCP) in Ottawa, Canada. See the video below:

Project Partners

Project Team

EuroClio Coordinators:

  • Steven Stegers
  • Catherine Savitsky

Country Coordinators:

  • Bojana Dujković-Blagojević
  • Igor Jovanović
  • Donika Xhemajli
  • Miloš Vukanović
  • Mire Mladenovski
  • Aleksandar Todosijević
  • Marjeta Šifrer

Project Aims

Building on the results of its predecessor, the Learning History that is not yet History II (LHH2) project is promoting a pluralistic approach to teaching the recent wars, thus contributing to stability and more mutual understanding in the region.

In this project, EuroClio and its partners will create…

  • 12 ready-to-use educational materials on teaching the recent past of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the 1990s wars, available in all national languages;
  • a Teacher’s Guide for teaching sensitive and controversial topics in the classroom in a way that promotes open dialogue and discussion between students, and handling emotional reactions to traumatic content in and outside the classroom, available in all national languages;
  • a promotional video to spread awareness of the work EuroClio has done in the Balkan region and ensure the expansion of the network, with subtitles in all national languages;
  • teacher-training workshops using the learning activities and methodologies developed, hosted in the local national languages.

As a result of the project…

  • The capacity of history teachers in the Balkans will be strengthened to deal with this sensitive topic transnationally;
  • The cooperation with colleagues from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia will be strengthened;
  • The use and implementation of the developed resources will be increased through training events, presentations, and awareness-raising activities;
  • The online database at devedesete.net with 100+ entries of existing (educational) resources that could be used in teaching the recent wars in schools will be maintained.

Acknowledgement

The Learning History that is not yet History II project is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Global Centre for Pluralism.

Read about the latest project news, meetings and much more here!

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March 8, 2022|Comments Off on Who’s Afraid of History?

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