Summer School – University of Regensburg (24-28 July 2023)

In the framework of the project “Digital Teaching and Learning in Historical Sciences,” Prof. Jenny Oesterle and Dr. Dani Nassif from the University of Regensburg organized a Summer School on 24–28 July 2023, under the title “History, Digitization, and Archive.” Historians of the post-colonial Middle East are arguably forced to write what historian Ibrahim ʿAbduh dubbed “history without documents” (tārīkh bilā wathāʾiq), as archival materials remain scattered and unattended, eventually leading up to uncontested historical narratives. Meanwhile, the German model of using digital technology to archive material, influencing history writing and learning, sets an interesting example to reflect upon and, as a matter of fact, learn from. In an interdisciplinary cooperation and a cultural dialogue across borders, the university of Regensburg in Germany hosts 22 Iraqi scientists from the departments of applied computer science (Al-Nahrain University) and history (University of Baghdad) to engage with and discuss the German expereince of digital archive and history vis-à-vis the Iraqi context. In addition to the presentations by the DAAD participants from Germany and Iraq, the programm included sessions on Monumenta Germaniae Historica and Archive in Nordrhein Westfalen, in addition to visiting SpitalArchiv and Turn und Taxis Museum.

The summer school was organized in cooperation with Prof. Dheaa Zageer (Al-Nahrain University) and Prof. Layth Shakir (University of Baghdad).