About NOGWHISTO

The major aim of the network is to connect activities of its member organizations, to held at least one conference (in direct relation with the CISH congress) every five years, to share as much information as possible via websites, electronic journals and other instruments among the members of the member organizations.

NOGWHISTO will develop a couple of instruments for academic communication among the individual members of its member organizations and of its organizational committees:

the international congress to be held every five years at the place where the CISH holds its conference
mutual participation in the conferences organized by the member organizations or the organizational committees
a general discussion period via an online forum organized by the steering committee which allows all individuals to contribute and/or to debate with other scholars in the world.

The first attempt to establish an organization affiliated with CISH goes back to the International Congress at Oslo in 2000, when Jerry Bentley on behalf of the WHA organized a main thematic panel and discussed with the CISH secretariat the chances of a possible application. Such an initiative was seen as appropriate by WHA given the increase of activities in the field of world history since the early 1990s and it was welcomed by scholars from various parts of the world. At the time the response from CISH seemed not to be very positive. This was because the WHA was seen as an essentially North American based organization and CISH statutes require that affiliates not only allow access to scholars from all over the world but also achieve a certain real spread of membership. With the foundation of ENIUGH in 2002 (becoming at the time an affiliate of WHA) and of an Asian Association of World Historians in 2008, as well as with the growing interest in world history both in Africa and Latin America, conditions for such an initiative have become much better. A request in 2005 was encouraged by the departing president of CISH, Jürgen Kocka and since then ongoing communication with Jean-Claude Robert, currently president of the CISH is encouraging and prepares the application for membership from 2010.

Last Updated on Friday, 26 December 2008 18:21