Memory and History

• The students will learn the topics that will enrich their knowledge about the relation between history and memory studies;
• The students will learn the mechanisms of formation of the modern memory, which intertwines the individuality and generality, concrete and abstract;
• They will be capable of critical analyses of the problems. They will be able to find solutions by transferring their own or foreign experiences or by synthesizing their solutions due to the special conditions.

No prerequisites are required.

The course deals with the complex relationship between history, memory studies and the practical research of the past on the examples of commemorations and days of remembrance Students become familiar with modern theories of memory and forms of memory practices (official, collective, individual, marginalized...), the most important authors and texts, differences in understanding the culture of memory and the role of historical representations in the processing of memory and struggles for interpretations of the past (the works of theorists of memory studies, which reflect the relationship between memory and history).
Remembrance practices will be presented within selected historical events and, according to the sources and methodologies of the work, analysed together with the students.
The events of the 20th century and multifaceted interpretations of memory will be presented on practical examples. An independent analysis of exhibitions and places of memory will be presented in the seminar assignment.
Key themes: Memory, historical practices of remembrance, forgetting, national/ethnic/minority/collective/group memory, colonization, and decolonization, (...)
1. Theories of memory studies
2. History, memory, identity
3. Politics, revisionisms, shared memories
4. Media and narratives
5. Memory, wars and courts
6. Memory and oral history
7. Memory and museum presentations of the time
8. Places of memory
9. Oblivion
10. Memory and colonization

• Students will be capable of detecting cultural-historical issues and social problems in general. They will solve these problems using different methodological approaches based on critical and self-critical judgment;
• The students will learn about different levels of historical knowledge based on different collective understanding of the past, from individual to collective memory experiences;
• The student will evaluate the past events and form their personal perspective of the topics.

Seminar paper and oral exam. 40 % / 60 %

Kot docentka za področje novejše in sodobne zgodovine je dr. Kaja Širok delovala do leta 2021 v znanstvenoraziskovalni skupini na oddelku za sociologijo Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, od leta 2021 pa predava na Univerzi v Novi Gorici, smer Kulturna zgodovina.
Raziskovalno je aktivna na področjih zgodovine, muzeologije, dediščine, ustne zgodovine, študij o mejah in nacionalnosti ter študij kolektivnega spomina. Ukvarja se z vprašanji odnosa med zgodovino in spominom, dominantnimi historičnimi naracijami ter osebnimi izkušnjami posameznika, s posebnim poudarkom na vprašanji dojemanja preteklih dogodkov v odnosu do današnjega časa. Osredotoča se na teme nacionalizmov, muzejskih naracij, spominskih študij in različnih interpretacij o preteklosti. Objavlja v slovenskih in mednarodnih znanstvenih revijah.

V obdobju med letoma 2011 in 2021 je vodila Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije (MNZS). Ta se je pod njenim vodstvom razvil v sodoben družbeni prostor, ki je širši javnosti večplastno predstavljal zgodovino Slovencev v 20. stoletju. V času vodenja muzeja je sodelovala v številnih evropskih projektih s področja kulture. Aktivno je vključena v delo Mednarodnega muzejskega sveta ICOM, je članica sveta Mednarodnega odbora spominskih muzejev v spomin na žrtve javnih zločinov ICMEMO in mednarodnega sveta za muzejsko etiko ETHCOM.
Leta 2019 jo je Evropski parlament potrdil v akademski svet Hiše evropske zgodovine v Bruslju, kjer deluje še danes.
Po izobrazbi je diplomirana zgodovinarka in italijanistka, doktorirala je s področja kulturne zgodovine. Študijsko se je izobraževala v Bologni in Rimu

Objave:
ŠIROK, Kaja. Imagining the Borders of the Nation. Remembrance narratives in Northeres Adriatic areas, 2021, Brill Publications, 2021

ŠIROK, Kaja. Remembering and Forgetting in Museum Narratives; “Mediatisation of Memory” (ur. Luhar in Pušnik); 2020, Brill Publications

ŠIROK, Kaja. The refugee experience on the Isonzo Front during the First World Wa. V: Being a Refugee: A European Narrative (ur. Heidemarie Uhl, Anisa Hasanhodžić, Rifet Rustemović); OAW IKT;

ŠIROK, Kaja. Reinterpreting and transforming red museums in Yugoslavia. Museum international, ISSN 1350-0775, 2018, vol. 70, no. 279/280, str. 26-37, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 718188]

ŠIROK, Kaja. Identitete, zgodovina in dediščina prostora - prakse spominjanja in komemoracije na Goriškem v XX. stoletju. Acta Histriae, ISSN 1318-0185. [Tiskana izd.], 2012, letn. 20, št. 4, str. 631-646 [COBISS.SI-ID 2331603],

ŠIROK, Kaja. Kalejdoskop goriške preteklosti : zgodbe o spominu in pozabi, (Zbirka Kulturni spomin, knj. 2). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2012. 203 str., [16] str. pril., ilustr. ISBN 978-961-254-403-4. [COBISS.SI-ID 264309760]

ŠIROK, Kaja. Spomin in pozaba na obmejnem območju : predstave o goriški preteklosti. Acta Histriae, ISSN 1318-0185. [Tiskana izd.], 2010, letn. 18, št. 1/2, str. 337-358, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1024140128]

Predavanja:
ŠIROK, Kaja. Il potere dei musei per creare una società più inclusiva – educare per un futuro responsabile. Italian museums conference: Musei italiani. An International Speech, Rome, 5. 5. 2022;

Širok, Kaja. Managing values in times of political change. Managing Values. Values in management, Online museum seminars by Acesso Cultura, Portugal, 6. 4. 2022;

ŠIROK, Kaja. Politics of Remembrance. Reinterpreting and Transforming Museum Narratvies. Invited lecture for students of the course “Politics of Memory”, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, 2021

ŠIROK, Kaja Undestading differences, changing perspectives, NEMO conference, 2020 https://www.ne-mo.org/speaker/nemo/kaja-sirok.html

ŠIROK, Kaja. Museums in pandemic times: from isolation to everyday communication: a positive reflection on the museums role in uncertain times: how to work on exhibitions, collections and European project dissemination : invited presentation at international on-line conference YOCOCU 2020 Hands on Heritage: experiencing conservation, mastering management, 2-4 November 2020.

ŠIROK, Kaja. L'esperienza degli EuroVision Labs.: predavanje v okviru programa "Una prospettiva internazionale per i musei europei: il progetto EMEE - EuroVision Museums Exhibiting Europe", Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, Roma, 19 febbraio 2016. [COBISS.SI-ID 611692]

ŠIROK, Kaja. The role of the museum in society : lecture at the Institute of Design and Communication, FH Joanneum Gesellschaft, University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria, 8 June 2016. [COBISS.SI-ID 622700]

ŠIROK, Kaja. Making the House: exhibiting contested narratives : presentation at international conference Europe exposed, House of European History, Brussels, 25-27 June 2018. [COBISS.SI-ID 673388] (vabljen zaprti posvet za strokovnjake)