The Future of Historiography

Where will the discipline of history be in 100 years from now? This panel looks to the future of historiography as an imperative for reflection and action in the present. It will do so via four globally distinguished voices who have played a shaping role in the history and theory of historiography. They will ask us to look through four windows to the future: “Anticipatory History,” “There Is No Going Back: The Future of Historiography,” “Will Artificial Historians Replace Human Historians?” and “Historiography as Seen from the Future.” Themes highlighted will include the future of the academy and universities; realising the power of time; history as navigator of multiple crises; the problem of historians as sole interpretive authority of the past; and the long shadow of the Anthropocene. The four panellists are globally distinguished contributors to historiography. Ewa Domańska is a professor of theory and history of historiography at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan in Poland, visiting professor at Stanford University and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She is known for advancing new and future-oriented approaches to the past, exploring how historical knowledge can shape different futures. Ethan Kleinberg is Distinguished Professor of History and Letters at Wesleyan University. He is editor in chief of History and Theory, co-founder of History Theory Revolt, and diagnostician who has laid bare the power of events, ethics and the ghosts of the past which can guide us to new modes of history. Marnie Hughes-Warrington AO is Distinguished Professor of History/Philosophy at Adelaide University. She has published twelve books on historiography. Her latest books are History and Artificial Intelligence (Cambridge, forthcoming) and Artificial Historians (Routledge, 2025). She is proud to serve as co-Secretary General of the International Commission for the History and Theory of Historiography with Daniel Woolf. Marek Tamm is Professor of cultural history at Tallinn University, Estonia, vice president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, and editor of the Journal of the Philosophy of History, who has unravelled and rewoven the fabric of time to lay bare the challenges we must confront in the Anthropocene. The panel will be chaired by emeritus Professor Antoon De Baets, President of the International Commission for the History and Theory of Historiography, member of the Academia Europaea, and author of numerous books and articles on ethics, human rights, and history.

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The Future of Historiography

Abstract

Convenor

Chair

Panelists

Papers

Introduction: The Return of Professor Pirenne

Anticipatory History

There is No Going Back: The Future of Historiography

Historiography as Seen from the Future

“Will Artificial Historians Replace Human Historians?”

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