EIHS Workshop: Writing Against History: Practicing the Past

Writing is at the center of historical scholarship, constituting a significant portion of source material and scholarly output. Yet the practice of writing hugely exceeds the boundaries of disciplinary scholarship. How do various modes and genres of writing inflect the ways in which we are able to think historically and imagine the past? What kinds of meaning can various forms of writing engender when it comes to understanding history? As the profession embraces writing for public audiences, what genres of writing constitute history? In this panel, scholars from a variety of disciplines consider alterities of history, from the ancient Mediterranean to modern West Africa and Southeast Asia. Each panelist will consider the ways in which history can be practiced and socially inscribed in ways that are alien to the academic discipline of history.


Chantal Croteau (PhD Candidate, Anthropology, University of Michigan)
Orven Mallari (PhD Student, Anthropology, University of Michigan)
Caroline Murphy-Racette (PhD Student, Classical Studies, University of Michigan)
Talitha Tukura Pam (PhD Student, Anthropology and History, University of Michigan)
Hakem Al-Rustom (moderator; Assistant Professor, Alex Manoogian Professor of Modern Armenian History, University of Michigan)

This event presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.