Digital technologies have revolutionized education, enabling collaboration that tran- scends oceans, borders, and time zones. The Global History Lab (GHL), a pioneering international teaching initiative currently hosted at CRASSH at the University of Cambridge, UK, exemplifies this transformation by bring- ing the world into the classroom through partnerships with institutions across Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. This talk will introduce the GHL‘s innovative approach to teaching and learning, highlighting the Global History Dialogues Project and its diverse research outputs, including the anthology The Right to Research: Historical Narratives by Refugee & Global South Researchers (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023).
Focusing on the opportunities and challenges of fostering transnational conversations about global history, the presentation will explore how GHL‘s unique model differs from traditional online and in-person history courses. Unlike conventional formats, where students often learn in isolation, the GHL prioritizes collaboration, dialogue, and meaningful connections, making interaction the core of both digital and physical learning environments. Through a network of partner institutions, the course is delivered concurrently around the globe, allowing students to engage in local classroom settings that are part of a broader, interconnected global framework. This blended model, where students use an online platform for lectures and cross-border interactions while meeting locally for in-person discussions and assignments, maximizes the time and depth of peer-to-peer learning. By doing so, the GHL not only expands access to knowledge but also cultivates a truly global understanding of history.
Marcia C. Schenck has been a global history professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany, since 2020. She holds a PhD in history from Princeton University and an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on various forms of human mobility, including education, labor migration, and refuge-seeking. She also has a broad interest in knowledge production, global history, and oral history. Her latest books include the open-access monograph Remembering Labor Migration to the Second World: Socialist Mobilities between Angola, Mozambique, and East Germany (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), and the co-edited anthology The Right to Research: Historical Narratives by Refugee & Global South Researchers (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023). She is the founder of the History Dialogues Project.
Rückfragen bitte an: Katharina.Oke(at)uni-graz.at
Konzept und Organisation: Arbeitsbereich Zeitgeschichte, Institut für Geschichte