25 and 26 May 2023
Taking the recent criticism of global history as a starting point, this conference seeks to discuss the future pathways of global history by exploring: 1. Where is the field of global history headed, and how can a more decentralized and diverse practice be achieved? 2. What methods, narratives, and historiographical traditions need to be included to open the field to a broader range of scholars and debates? 3. What does a fairer global history look like?
Join Chao Tayiana alongside other multi-stakeholders as they imagine what the futures of Global History look like.
Covering Plurality and Purpose: Digital Methodologies for Community Based Histories, Chao spotlights how encounters with new technologies often bring with them opportunities to create new narratives, but they also bear the potential to entrench existing ones that have prioritized certain perspectives in place of others. Her presentation looks at the ways in which digital tools and platforms have been used to document, strengthen and archive community histories in Kenya, and how these methods can be scaled and codified to support a growing ecosystem of cultural producers in the region. The question of how we use technology is not determined by the functionality of the technology itself but by the intention of those wielding it. Purpose begets purpose and questions around how to develop digital heritage methodologies have to centre various pluralities – audiences, legacies, silences, infrastructure and more. Chao begins by drawing on her experience documenting the history of railway infrastructure in Kenya as well as the history of detention during the colonial period. Finally, referencing recent efforts to support cultural heritage actors and institutions in the region and the lessons learned from this.
To read more about the conference and get a glimpse of what the other panellists will be speaking on, visit the World’s Apart? Futures of Global History international conference page here.
