AN INVITATION

THE ANNUAL SEMINAR 

History and Cultural Identity

September 14-November 9, 2006                       Washington, D.C.

Working Sessions 

September 26^th, 9.00am -- The Challenge of History: Introduction

Issues:

1. What is history and can it still be done;
2. How to view history: historiography;
3. Philosophy of history defined in terms of crisis
4. History and cultural identity

Readings:

1. D. Power “Culture, Identity and History”

2. W. Sweet “The Use of History”

3. F. Fukuyama “The End of History”

4. S.P. Huntington “The Clash of Civilizations”

September 28th, 2.00pm – Presentations

- Rosemary Winslow (USA) “Troping Trauma: Conceiving /of/ Experiences of Speechless Terror”

- Eugeniusz Górski (Poland) “Civil Society and Social Capital in Poland”

October 3th,  9.00am -- History as Providence

Issues:

1. What is history and philosophy of history?
2. Is it linear, teleological, progress oriented?

Readings:

1. Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas
2. Augustine, City of God books 19-20
3. J. Maritain and N. Berdyaev on the meaning of history

October 5th, 2.00pm – Presentations

- Ivelina Ivanova (Bulgaria)  “Chasing the Global: The ‘World’ in Bulgarian Historical Thought”

- Elena Grevtsova (Russia) “Russia’s special destination in history?”

- Richard K Khuri (Lebanon/USA) “Towards a Sustainable Global ‘World Order’: Outline of a Philosophy of Religious Pluralism and Tolerance

October 10th, 9.00am  – History as Science

Issues:

1. Enlightenment views of history
2. History as past
3. How much can be known of the past?
4. Can we know the past objectively and scientifically?

Readings:

1. Herder, On World History, 35-52; 99-161
2. Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, 25-161
3. Vico, Historical Theory, 47-155

October 12th, 2.00pm  – Presentations

- Carlos Eduardo Maldonado (Colombia) “History as an Increasing Complex System”

- Cheng Mei (China) “Xuan Zang: A Monumental Figure in China’ s History of Translation”

October 17th, 9.00am – The Challenge of Postmodernism

Issues:

1. Can we do history?
2. Does it have any value?
3. The linguistic turn.
4. Derrida, language
5. Foucault, power

Readings:

1. Derrida, Language: Grammatology, 158- ; The Linguistic Turn, 118-133
2. Foucault, Power: The Order of Things; Archeology of the Human Sciences
3. Leotand, Metanarratives Revival of Narrative (97-100)

October 19th, St. Michael’s College, Winooski Park, Vermont

- Wilhelm Danca (Romania) “Memory and Identity in Post-Communist Romania”

October 24th, 9.00am – History and Hermeneutics

Issues:

1. Presuppositions of History
2. Logic of question and answer
3. Bridging the gap of history from enlightenment to the post modern
4. History as an active construction: can it learn from the past.

Readings:

1. Collingwood, The Idea of History, 205-334; especially 231-248; 282-301
2. Gadamer Truth and Method
3. Longeran, Method-Theology, 175-234

October 26th, 2.00pm – Presentations

-John P. Hogan (USA) “Collingwood: The Re”Enactment of Past Thought”

-Ikechukwu Ani (Nigeria) “Narrative History and Social Integration with Special Reference to Storytelling in Africa”

- Sjef Donders (USA/Netherlands) “Religious Identity and Secularization”

October 31th – History and Culture I

Issues:

1. What role do culture and religion plan in retrieving the a people’s past?
2. Is history necessarily written by the winners?
3. History from below: oral history, ethnic histories; subaltern histories; gender; race
4. How does history for cultural identities?

Readings:

1. Africa, History Making in Africa, 1-31
2. Islam Khaldun, chap. I, 1-37; chap. II, 131-139
3. Indian subaltern D. Chakrabarty “Subaltern Studies”

November 2nd, 2.00pm – Presentations

- Nguyen Ngoc Ha (Vietnam) “National Cultural Identities in the Context of Cultural  Globalization”

- Chintamani Malviya (India) “Democratic History and Culture in India”

November 7th, 9.00am – History and Culture II

Issues:

1. What role do culture and religion plan in retrieving the a people’s past?
2. Is history necessarily written by the winners?
3. History from below: oral history, ethnic histories; subaltern histories; gender; race
4. How does history for cultural identities?

Readings:

1. Charles Bergqu1st “Latin America: A Dissenting View of “Latin American History in World Perspective”

2.  “The Violent and Unequal Encounter of Cultures”

November 9th, 2.00pm – Presentations

- Alin Tat (Romania) “History, Identity and Conflict. A Case Study”

- Rolando M. Gripaldo (Philippines) “History and Cultural Identity: The Philippine Case^”

November 14th, 9.00am – Future Perspectives

Issues:

1. People still write history in search of answers to present questions
2. Proper role of cultural anthropology, philosophy and social sciences in search of understanding our past
3. Culture as both a positive key and a formidable obstacle to grasping a global history

Readings:

1/ Georg G. Iggers, Historiography in the 20^th Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Post Modern Challenge (Middleton, CT:Wesleyan Univ. Press, 2005)

2. Jean-François Méthot “Traditional” vs Post-Modern History: The Contribution of Narrative”

3. Ernest Gellner, Plough, Sword and Book: the Structure of Human History 1988 11-23, 39-69, 261-283

November 16th, 2.00pm – Presentations

- Vincent Shen (Taipei/Canada) “On Confucian Philosophy of History”

- Rahim Nobahar (Iran) “Islamic Doctrines and the relationship between Public and Private Spheres”

- M. John Farrelly (USA) “Religious Culture and Historical Change: Vatican II on Religious Freedom”