History Teaching Workshop 2023
Call for Applications
History Teaching Programme
The History Teaching Programme will seek to answer the question – Why Teach History? This issue is particularly relevant given the passing of a new law introducing the teaching of the 1989 Revolution in Romanian high-schools. As this new curriculum is optional, the Programme will aim to give teachers the confidence and tools to be able to teach this still contentious episode of Romanian history. The main themes of the panels will therefore be related to this goal and will include the politicisation of History, the impact of political forces on teaching post-1989, and the challenges of teaching difficult, 20th century history to high-school students.
The Programme will take place from 10th to 12th February 2023, at the Ratiu Centre for Democracy in Turda, consisting of two days of in-person sessions. Participants from Romania and Moldova will have the opportunity to attend workshops led by John Lotherington, director of the 21st Century Trust in London and prominent History education expert, as well as by a number of other distinguished academics affiliated with prominent institutions, including the London School of Economics, the University of Belgrade, and the University of Leicester, amongst others.
Please note the programme will be free of charge and participants will receive accommodation and catering at the Ratiu Guesthouse in Turda, Transylvania.

Applications are now closed
Information note on the processing of personal data for participants:
Please submit your applications to: Doinita Seruna, doinita.seruna@ratiudemocracycenter.org
For any further information on the programme, please contact Stuart Austin, LSE IDEAS: s.j.austin@lse.ac.uk
The Ratiu Forum – a partnership between LSE IDEAS (London School of Economics) and the Ratiu Foundation – is now accepting applications for the 2023 History Teaching Programme. Applications are open to motivated high-school level history teachers and university students seeking a career in education – from Romania and Moldova. We welcome applicants who wish to engage in a more critical and complex way with difficult aspects of Romanian history, such as the revolution of 1989 and the Holocaust, and to develop their didactic skills.
GOALS OF THE PROGRAMME
To bring together Romanian and Moldavian History teachers and students, in order to explore different narratives of History and methods used in school-teaching.
To promote a teaching of the Romanian past which is complex and rich, and challenge uncritical thinking about the past.
To support Romanian and Moldavian teachers engaging with difficult historical topics, allowing them to encourage their students to approach historical narratives and their influence on contemporary society.
ACTIVITIES
In-person workshops in Turda, Romania, with elite academics and experts.
Group-session drafting a working document on the key principles of teaching History.
Post-event submission of a written essay answering a set question, taking into account the lessons learned during the workshops. A prize will be awarded to the winning essay – details to be announced.
ELIGIBILITY
The project is addressed to high-school level/aspiring history teachers. Candidates must believe in democratic values, to honour the legacy of Ion Ratiu, and be Romanian or Moldavian citizens. Candidates must also have a working knowledge of English.
APPLICATION
In order to apply for the History Teaching Programme, interested candidates should submit the following information to Doinita Seruna, doinita.seruna@ratiudemocracycenter.org. The application deadline is Wednesday 25 January, 2023.
A CV, of no longer than two pages;
A short cover letter explaining their motivation to apply, in terms of personal and professional development, and the key issues which they would like to take away from the Programme. The cover letter should be between 250 and 500 words;
Two written answers to the following questions (250-300 words each), in preparation for the workshops:
a. What do you think are the three major issues confronting history teaching today?
b. Do you think that, during your career to date, teaching history has changed or is changing? If so, how would you evaluate those changes?
SELECTION CRITERIA
The Ratiu Forum will be considering the following criteria when assessing applications:
- Either proven experience teaching history at high-school level, or current university students seeking a career in education at high-school level.
- An open-minded and analytical approach.
- An ambition to develop both professionally and personally as teachers.
- A commitment to engaging fully in the Programme and to making the most of the knowledge and expertise of the speakers.
SPEAKERS
History Workshop February 2023

John Lotherington is director of the 21st Century Trust in London, which in 2009 forged a long-term partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar where John also leads the health and health care innovation programs. He began his career in history education and maintains an interest in that area. His publications as editor and author include The Communications Revolution; Years of Renewal: European History 1470 to 1600; The Seven Ages of Life; The Tudor Years; and introductions to The Florentine Histories by Niccolò Machiavelli, The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione, and the Divine Comedy by Dante. He is an associate board member, and former Chair, of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development, a trustee of Cumberland Lodge, and a governor of Goodenough College, London.

Prof Carol Capiță graduated from the University of Bucharest, Faculty of History-Philosophy, in 1988. After a brief period as a Secondary School teacher (both in rural and urban schools), he became a staff member of his alma mater since 1990. He holds a PhD in Ancient History and a PhD in Educational Sciences. His interests (in the field of Education) lie in the area of curriculum development, the use of sources in History teaching, and the initial teacher training of History teachers. He published a number of articles on the Didactics of History, as well as being co-author (with Laura Capiţă) of two books on the Didactics of History, various teaching materials for the initial and continuing teacher training, and several History textbooks. He worked as an independent expert with the Council of Europe for the last 16 years.

Christopher Coker is Professor of International Relations at LSE. His publications include The Rise of the Civilizational State (2019); Rebooting Clausewitz (2018); Men at War; what fiction tells us about conflict from The Iliad to Catch 22 (2014); Warrior Geeks: how 21st century technology is changing the way we fight and think about war (Oxford University Press 2013) and Barbarous Philosophers: reflections on the nature of war from Heraclitus to Heisenberg (Columbia University Press 2010). He has written for The Times, Times Literary Supplement, The Financial Times, The Spectator, the Independent and The Wall St Journal. He has been a Visiting Fellow at National Institute of Defence Studies (Tokyo); the Rajaratnam School National technological University (Singapore), the Institute for Security Studies (Chulalongkorn University Bangkok) and is a regular lecturer at staff colleges and academies around the world. He is at present Visiting Professor in War Studies at the Swedish National Defence College.

Dr. Slobodan G. Markovich, MBE is Full Professor at the School of Political Science of the University of Belgrade where he lectures Political Anthropology, Political History of South-East Europe and Image of European Other. He is also Full Professor at the Institute for European Studies in Belgrade. He has been Research Associate at LSEE/LSE since 2012, and at LSE IDEAS since 2018. He has been the head of the Centre for British Studies at the School of Political Science in Belgrade since 2017. His published monographs include a book on Freud’s pessimism: Pessimistic Anthropology of Sigmund Freud (Belgrade, 2012), on Serbian economist, politician and diplomat Chedomille Miyatovich. A Victorian among Serbs (Belgrade, 2006), and a monograph on British-(Balkan)Serbian relations: British Perceptions of Serbia and the Balkans 1903-1906 (Paris, 2000, in English). His (co-)edited collections of papers in English include: British-Serbian Relations from the 18th to the 21st Centuries (Belgrade, 2018), Problems of Identities in the Balkans (Belgrade, 2006), and Challenges to New Democracies in the Balkans (Belgrade, 2004). He has been the coordinator of annual meetings “Psychoanalysis and Culture” since 2016.His research interests include: Construction of Ethnic/National and Religious Identities in the Balkans, British-Balkan Relations, psychoanalytic anthropology, and History of European Pessimism.

Dr Raul Cârstocea is a lecturer in Twentieth-Century European History at Maynooth University, Ireland. He has previously worked as a lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Leicester, as a lecturer in European Studies at Europa Universität Flensburg, as a senior research associate at the European Centre for Minority Issues, and as a teaching fellow at University College London. He has held research fellowships at the Imre Kértesz Kolleg Jena, the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, and at the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies. His research interests focus on antisemitism, Jewish history, nationalism, fascism, and the Holocaust, and more broadly on state formation and nation-building processes in the XIX and XX century Central and Eastern Europe and their consequences for minority groups. He has co-edited with Éva Kovács a volume entitled “Modern Antisemitism in the Peripheries: Europe and its Colonies, 1880-1945” (Vienna, 2019)
and has published extensively on the history of antisemitism, fascism, and the Holocaust in Romania and, more broadly, Eastern Europe. He is co-editor with Paul Jackson of the “Modern History of Politics and Violence” book series at Bloomsbury Academic, and a member of the editorial board of the academic journal S:I.M.O.N. Shoah: Interventions. Methods. Documentation. He is also Vice-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe at the Council of Europe.

Louisa Slavkova is an advisory board member of the European Network for Civic Education NECE. In 2016 she was Ronald Lauder Visiting Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, NYC. From 2013 to 2016, she was programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Prior to joining ECFR, Slavkova served for two years as adviser to Bulgaria’s former Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov. Before that, she worked with the German Federal Agency for Civic Education. She is the author and editor of several books and publications on foreign policy, democracy development and civic education. She is co-author of an upcoming text book on civic education in Bulgaria. Slavkova is also co-founder of THE CIVICS Innovation Hub, a pan-European organization founded in 2021.

Lidija Suica is a teacher, teacher trainer and director of NGO Education for the 21st Century. She has also worked as a project manager, coordinator and consultant on various national and international projects. Her experience in the field of curricula design, textbook writing, and teacher training is extensive and profound. She holds advanced training skills, great knowledge and abilities in developing and implementing competence-based educational programs on national and international level.

Dr Marko Suica is a Professor of History at the University of Belgrade in Serbia. He is a former member of Educational Council of Ministry of Education in Serbia (2004) and has extensive experience in teacher training and curriculum development. He has written curricula for teacher training in Adult Education on the project “The Second Chance” – Systemic Development of Elementary, Practice Based Adult Education in Serbia (2010-2013) and has been involved in history teacher training programmes with the Serbian Education Department and the Council of Europe. Since 2014 he has been an editor of History textbooks and additional teaching materials. He is also a vice president of the NGO Education for 21st century and a member of the International Society for History Didactics (ISHD).