International Workshop at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, School of History, Albert Ludwigs Universität Freiburg, Germany, 7 – 9 April 2011.

Organizers: Chris Lorenz (FRIAS / VU University Amsterdam) & Berber Bevernage (University of Ghent)

Since the birth of modernity history has presupposed the existence of ‘the past’ as its object, yet the concept of ‘the past’ and the distinction between the categories of ‘the past’, ‘the present’ and ‘the future’ have seldom been reflected upon within the boundaries of the discipline. Indeed the question of time has largely been omitted from the agenda of history. We feel that it is about time for historians and philosophers of history to start to analyze how cultures in general and historians in particular actually distinguish ‘the past’ from ‘the present’ and ‘the future’, how their interrelationships are constructed, and whatrole is played by ‘transformative events’, for example revolutions and major wars, in ‘breaking up time’. The workshop aims to make a connection between historical and philosophical debates and opts for a comparative perspective based on case studies.

The workshop will include presentations by the following speakers:

Lynn Hunt (University of California, Los Angeles)
François Hartog (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris)
Jonathan Gorman (Queens University, Belfast)
Peter Osborne (Kingston University, London)
Constantin Fasolt (University of Chicago)
Sebastian Conrad (Freie Universität Berlin)
Lucian Hölscher (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
Peter Fritzsche (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
William Gallois (Roehampton University, London)
Sanja Perovic (King's College London)
Claudia Verhoeven (Cornell University, Ithaca NY)
Hagen Schulz-Forberg (Aarhus University)

The workshop is free, but registration is required and please note that the seats are limited.

For the detailed program and more information, please visit the website: http://www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/history/veranstaltungen/PresentPastFuture

For registration please contact history@frias.uni-freiburg.de. Other questions can be addressed to Chris Lorenz (cfg.lorenz@let.vu.nl) and Berber Bevernage (berber.bevernage@ugent.be).