Special Events

As we, the CISH Centennial Conference 2026 Organizing Committee, are committed to creating spaces that connect scholarship, publication, and institutional research communities, we are pleased to present two key features of this year’s conference, to encourage scholarly exchange and collaboration: the Publishers’ Exhibition and the new Forum for Research Centers, which both aim to enhance visibility, encourage dialogue, and strengthen connections across the international historical community. Ultimately, the goal is to enable exchange that advances the future of historical studies and strengthens collaboration and dialogue across disciplines. Publishers play a vital role in this regard as they contribute to the dissemination of new scholarship, support academic debate, and ensure that innovative findings reach both specialists and wider audiences. The Publishers’ Exhibition, therefore, offers an opportunity for direct exchange between authors, editors, and readers, fostering meaningful connections and showing current developments in historical publishing.In addition, the Forum for Research Centers introduces a new format within the conference program. It brings together universities, institutes, and collaborative research initiatives in a shared exhibition space, allowing them to present ongoing projects with their respective research output and institutional profiles. By showcasing the diversity of historical research environments, it underscores the richness of the international academic landscape. These are the participating publishers and institutions: CEU Press / GZWO Leipzig Helsinki University Press DeGruyter Brill Mare Nostrum Leiden University Press Westfälisches Dampfboot Schwabe Verlag Leipziger Universitätsverlag European University Institute European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) Verband der Deutschen Historiker (VHD) Viking Cruise

Words of Welcome by the rector of Leipzig University, Prof. Eve Inés Obergfell Video Message by the minister for science and arts ofthe Free State of Saxony, Dr. Sebastian Gemkow Speech by the President of The CISH, Prof. Catherine Horel Words of welcome by the local organizer, Prof. Matthias Middell Keynote by the President of the Association of German Historians,Prof. Antje Flüchter (Bielefeld University):History Under Pressure: Expertise, Critique, and the Future of the Discipline

For aspiring researchers, navigating the world of publishing can feel like venturing into the unknown. Although reading published work is central to historical education, contributing to the diverse landscape of periodicals and books is not typically part of the curriculum. Therefore, this hybrid panel aims to share insights from publishers and give students and early-career researchers a glimpse into the publishing process. The panel brings together publishers from the fields of historiography, theory, and the philosophy of history, which have fewer specialized publication outlets than many other subfields of history. The four panelists include two senior editors at major academic presses and academics with editorial experience in leading journals that cover these subfields. Eve Setch is a publisher at Routledge, a major trade publisher of academic books in this area. Lucy Rhymer is a publisher at Cambridge University Press, where she has brought many books and book series to fruition. They both bring valuable knowledge of publishing books and editorials to the panel. Contributing to the discussion from the perspective of periodicals are Kalle Pihlainen, Editor-in-Chief of the premier journal Rethinking History, and David Gary Shaw, a longtime Associate Editor of the oldest established academic periodical focused on historical theory, History and Theory. Daniel Woolf, editor of the Cambridge University Press series Elements in Historical Theory and Practice, will chair the panel in collaboration with Marnie Hughes-Warrington, author of numerous books and articles on historiography and the philosophy of history. Throughout the discussion, the speakers will address various aspects of the publishing process. They will start by explaining how to submit an article or book proposal, as well as what editors and publishers look for in academic work. Drawing from their professional experience, the speakers will outline the processes of peer review, revision, production, and proofreading. Participants will also learn about common mistakes made by prospective authors and gain insight into the challenges of publishing. Finally, they will address other issues, such as Open Access, and answer questions from the online and in-person audience. The event will be conducted in an open-access, hybrid format to permit the greatest possible participation from students and early career researchers present in Leipzig or online. This special event will give the audience a valuable glimpse into the world of publishing and provide them with the confidence and insights they need to publish their work.

Some CISH member organizations are taking the opportunity to hold their annual meetings or member assemblies during the Centennial Conference. Please find below the details for each meeting. The Zoom links will be sent out by the presidents of the respective organizations. Wednesday, August 26 NOGWHISTO (part 1) 3.30 pm - 4.30 pm House 1 T-1003 Friday, August 28 CIHEC 12 pm - 2 pm | House 3 SR223 ISHD 2 pm- 3 pm  | House 5 SR133 ICHU 3 pm - 5 pm | House 5 SR134 CIHF 2 pm - 5 pm | House 5 SR143 Saturday, August 29 NOGWHISTO (part 2) 1 pm | House 1 T-1003

The Memory of the World Programme is one of UNESCO´s heritage programmes. Its main tasks are to help safeguard documents (manuscripts, books, films, photographs, digital documents etc.), provide access to them, raise awareness of their significance, and thereby foster dialogue and mutual understanding between people and cultures. It lies in the character of documents as reliable witnesses of the past that they can transmit information sustainably into the future and so become a specific part of heritage: Documentary heritage. They are indispensable tools not only for a thorough understanding of history in all its forms but also for and of humanity itself. And they can help to disclose the misuse of history.One of the main tools of this programme is the International Memory of the World Register of single documents or collections with global significance. This Special event aims to inform about this and other core elements of Memory of the World, especially in education and research. And its wants, together with the audience and members of CISH, consider possibilities of building bridges between this UNESCO programme and CISH - and single researchers and lecturers.Memory of the World and the Historical Sciences share the intention to make their work fruitful for humanity, following universal values, joining respect to diversity with a global perspective. They share interests like fostering digitization projects or reflecting concepts of Heritage. And strengthening document literacy is a common interest of Memory of the World, memory institutions, historians and members of other disciplines that need scholarly edited sources. The International Memory of the World Register could be a new tool for teaching in the Historical Sciences (and in History in schools) and an object of their research. And historians could help assessing nominations for this Register. Artificial Intelligence could play a role in fields that are interesting for Memory of the World as well as for historians, e.g.: Immediate transcription and translations of ancient and old documents, or facilitating the access to documentary heritage for non-specialists and foreigners. Fackson Banda Head of the Documentary Heritage/Memory of the World Unit, UNESCO (Paris) Jan Bos, Chair of the International Advisory Committee (IAC), UNESCO Memory of the World Programme Lothar Jordan, Chair, Sub-Committee on Education and Research (SCEaR), IAC, UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, Ipshita Chanda (Hyderabad, India), President of the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA) Sacha Zala, CISH & Dodis Find more information here:UNESCO Memory of the World Programme (MoW)MoW Sub-Committee on Education and Research (SCEaR)

«Not only international … oecumenic may in future be the community of our scientific cooperation!» – In May 1926, in Geneva, scholars from numerous countries founded the Comité international des sciences historiques (CISH). In the aftermath of the First World War, this initiative sought to restore scholarly exchange and to establish a permanent framework for international cooperation in historical research. From the outset, it reflected a tension between national traditions and the aspiration to create a broader community of historians. Over the twentieth century, this network developed despite political crises, ideological divisions and global conflict. Through congresses, commissions and collective projects, CISH helped structure an international space for historical scholarship and gradually expanded its borders to include an increasing number of countries and specialised historical organisations. This volume presents 50 documents and provides access to a total of approximately 340 documents through the Dodis database, tracing these developments from 1926 to 2026. It brings together sources from several archives showing how cooperation among historians was organised, transformed and sustained across changing political and intellectual contexts. Sacha Zala, Prof. Dr., director of the Dodis research centre and professor at the University of Bern Lila Zeller, M.A., PhD candidate, University of Reunion Island Two former presidents of CISH comment on the new documents and on the recent historyof CISH in general: Marjatta Hietala, Prof. Dr., University of Tampere, president of CISH from 2010 to 2015Jürgen Kocka, Prof. Dr., Free University of Berlin, president of CISH from 2000 to 2005

Major international conferences more and more often break down into numerous parallel panels, in which individual aspects of the overarching theme are discussed with great expertise, without ever being brought back together. This special event aims to counter this tendency and stimulate a debate about what could be considered a shared “lesson learned” from the conference and which open questions have been identified that the community of historians should address in the near future. Such a panoramic overview can never be exhaustive and must remain rooted in the subjectivity of the observers – a subjectivity that becomes all the more important the more effectively it stimulates discussion among all participants. Moderated by Matthias Middell (Leipzig University) Participants: Ruth Mostern (Pittsburgh University) Steffi Marung (Leipzig University) Jie-Hyun Lim (Sogang University) Sorin Antohi (Academia Europaea, Section of History & Archaeology)

Speech by the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhardt Jung

Final remarks by the newly elected President of CISH

As a fitting conclusion to the conference, we invite you to discover Leipzig’s rich past and vibrant present. On a guided walking tour of the historic city center, you will visit selected museums and explore the city hosting the CISH Centennial Conference. This will give you a deeper impression of its history, culture, and unique atmosphere. More information will follow soon!