Dear Colleagues!
Institute of History and International Relations of Southern Federal University and "Novoe Proshloe / The New Past" journal invite you to participate in the international conference "The New Past – 4: Historical Events vs Historical Facts", which will be held in September 22–24, 2022 in Rostov on-Don, Pushkinskaya Street, 140.
What is the nature of the historical fact? And is a historical fact a direct confirmation of the past? Much has been said that historians cannot directly refer to the past, directly observe it, and therefore verify it. Reinhard Koselleck formulated a statement, shared today by many historians, that the factuality of a past event does not coincide with what really happened in its totality, and therefore what is presented is a fiction of the fact since reality itself is in the past. Still, researchers continue to argue about the forms, meanings, and ways of constructing historical facts. These discussions are further aggravated by the general use of the word “fact”, which makes it one of the most complex concepts of historical knowledge.
Whatever the remnants of the past may be, the fact is made by the one who problematizes and studies it, evaluating and endowing with meaning the evidence of the past. In other words, the researcher plays a decisive role in building the event-fact-meaning triad. The figure of a historian, rather than the historical fact, is at the center of writing history. Only few argue with that today. However, the motives and ways of interpreting the past - production of facts - are still up to discussion.
During the conference we are going to discuss following issues:
- What is the role of various factors, internal and external, in this process, including political engagement, cultural stereotypes, prejudices and even intuition, as well as the skill of the historian or his affiliation with a particular school?
- How do facts and events organize time and how historical facts correspond with historiographical facts?
- How did the professionalization of history in the 19th century, and then the disputes of the 20th and early 21st centuries about the status of historical knowledge affect the work of researchers?
- How do the facts obtained in the historian's laboratory determine the mass historical consciousness?
- How do historians set their goals when they begin working with the evidence of the past?
- How is the work with "facts" embodied in historical research?
Within the framework of these areas, we accept applications on both theoretical or methodological understanding of the problems posed and specific research cases or relevant source study practices.
Applications for participation in the conference with the abstracts (300-500 words) should be submitted before June 15, 2022 on the journal’s website "Novoe Proshloe / The New Past" (http://newpast.sfedu.ru/ - button "Conference 2022").
In addition to individual papers, we accept applications for panels, including 3-4 individual papers, united by a common problem, within the framework of the indicated areas.
The application must include:
1. Name, surname, affiliation, e-mail of the initiator.
2. Name, surname, affiliation, e-mail of the chairman of the panel (may be the same person).
3. The panel's area of research.
4. The title and abstract (300-500 words) of the panel as a whole.
5. Name, surname, affiliation, e-mail, title of the report of the panel members. Annotations of individual reports are not required.
Applications for organizing panels must be sent to newpast@sfedu.ru before June 15, 2022 with an attached file containing the required information.
It is not required to fill an individual application form if you participate in the organization of the panel as a speaker.
Within the framework of the conference, few round tables are planned:
- "Ideologies and Historical Facts" with the participation of the issuing editors and authors of the issue "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (2023 # 2), moderator – Victor Apryshchenko, victorapr@sfedu.ru;
- "'The Invention of Tradition': a fact or a factoid?" with the participation of the issuing editors and authors of the issue "Byzantinism and Russia" (2023 # 3), moderator – Andrey Korenevsky, koren@sfedu.ru;
- Round table of the Association of Leading Universities "Trends of publication activity in the humanities: resources and patterns of successful development".
Those who participate in the Round tables must provide a working text of between 2 and 4 thousand words, which is for debate rather that for publication. The text will be circulated before the conference among participants of the Round table and proposers will be asked to prepare a presentation of about 10 minutes. The text must be submitted to the moderators by 15 July, 2022.
The organizing committee will inform the decision to include reports in the conference program no later than August 1, 2022.
Working languages of the conference are Russian and English.
The Organizing Committee has a limited number of travel grants to pay for travel and accommodation of the conference participants on a competitive basis.
The reports presented at the conference can be published in the format of scientific articles and reports in the issues of "Novoe Proshloe / The New Past" (2023). Materials for publication will be accepted in accordance with the rules for reviewing and submitting materials to the journal.
For inquiries:: Natalya Dmitrieva nvdmitrieva@sfedu.ru
All fields of the "Application for participation" form must be filled