Courses and seminars
Index / Activities / Courses and seminars / History, Islamophobia and the Media
History, Islamophobia and the Media
November 25, 2019From 4:00 to 8:15 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Alcalá, 62).
From 4:00 to 8:15 p.m.
Prior registration required.
Registration coming soon on our website.
Casa Árabe is hosting this seminar organized by Fernando Bravo López
(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Alejandro García Sanjuán
(University of Huelva), which will bring together historians and
journalists so that they can attempt to find common ground among the
experiences of both groups and debate the problems which arise with
regard to this topic.
The seminar has been organized within the framework of the research project “Islamophobia. Continuity and change in the anti-Muslim tradition: The Case of Spain” (HAR2015-73869-JIN).
In recent times, the presence of History is being used once again in political and media
debate. Recently added to the debates and controversies revolving around the Spanish Civil War, the Franco era and so-called “historical memory” are other more distant historical periods that are also being turned into a cause for controversy in the present. In particular, the medieval period has been brandished as a dialectical weapon to lend legitimacy to certain political positions. Distorted ideas about what is known as the “Reconquista,” and about Al-Andalus and medieval Islam, about co-existence and the conflicts between Jews, Muslims and Christians, are all used to attack political opponents and construct excluding viewpoints about some timeless imaginary national community in constant battle with enemies that want to destroy it from inside and out.
Given this situation, the media and society in general are demanding that
historians intervene in these types of debates to contribute their own
viewpoint. And as a result, it seems necessary for journalists and historians to work together
to seek out solutions to the problems being brought up when they are asked to pass on
historical knowledge to society and allow it to acquire a historical
awareness that allows people to use the best possible criteria when judging the pseudo-historical messages they are often transmitted.
With the participation of:
Javier Albarrán (UAM)
Guillermo Altares (El País)
Carlos de Ayala (UAM)
Julián Casanova (University of Zaragoza)
César Cervera (ABC)
Maribel Fierro (CSIC)
Carlos Guerrero (RNE)
Bernabé López García (UAM)
Aristóteles Moreno, journalist and a member of the Córdoba Mosque Platform
Ana Planet (UAM)
Patricia Rodríguez Blanco (El País)
Fernando Rodríguez Mediano (CSIC)
Giles Tremlett, historian and journalist
Course schedule and bibliography
In recent times, the presence of History is being used once again in political and media
debate. Recently added to the debates and controversies revolving around the Spanish Civil War, the Franco era and so-called “historical memory” are other more distant historical periods that are also being turned into a cause for controversy in the present. In particular, the medieval period has been brandished as a dialectical weapon to lend legitimacy to certain political positions. Distorted ideas about what is known as the “Reconquista,” and about Al-Andalus and medieval Islam, about co-existence and the conflicts between Jews, Muslims and Christians, are all used to attack political opponents and construct excluding viewpoints about some timeless imaginary national community in constant battle with enemies that want to destroy it from inside and out.
Given this situation, the media and society in general are demanding that
historians intervene in these types of debates to contribute their own
viewpoint. And as a result, it seems necessary for journalists and historians to work together
to seek out solutions to the problems being brought up when they are asked to pass on
historical knowledge to society and allow it to acquire a historical
awareness that allows people to use the best possible criteria when judging the pseudo-historical messages they are often transmitted.
With the participation of:
Javier Albarrán (UAM)
Guillermo Altares (El País)
Carlos de Ayala (UAM)
Julián Casanova (University of Zaragoza)
César Cervera (ABC)
Maribel Fierro (CSIC)
Carlos Guerrero (RNE)
Bernabé López García (UAM)
Aristóteles Moreno, journalist and a member of the Córdoba Mosque Platform
Ana Planet (UAM)
Patricia Rodríguez Blanco (El País)
Fernando Rodríguez Mediano (CSIC)
Giles Tremlett, historian and journalist
Course schedule and bibliography
