On 2 October at 4 p.m, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (Tõnismägi 8) in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn have the privilege of welcoming Wilson Center expert and historian Jason Steinhauer.
In his lecture, Steinhauer primarily focuses on the issue discussed in his latest book “History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past”, namely the influence of social media on modern historical narratives. The lecture is aimed at scholars, historians, teachers and journalists. In his own words:
Social media, Wikipedia, mobile networks, and the viral and visual nature of the Web have filled the public sphere with historical information and misinformation, changing what we know about our history.… From Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to artificial intelligence, machine learning and algorithms, history has been widely communicated and fiercely contested across the social Web as battles over the 1619 Project, the Trump presidency, Confederate monuments and history textbooks have exploded into public view.
How does history intersect with today’s most pressing debates? How does history contribute to online debates about misinformation, disinformation, journalism, tribalism, activism, democracy, politics and identity? At the start of a new decade, in the midst of growing political division around the world, this information is critical to an engaged citizenry.
As we collectively grapple with the effects of technology and its capacity to destabilize our societies, scholars, educators and the general public should be aware of how the Web and social media shape what we know about ourselves – and crucially, about our past.
Steinhauer’s presentation is followed by an open discussion and Q&A.
Please register here by October 1.
Contact: info@mnemosyne.ee
+372 6645039
Tõnismägi 8, 10119 Tallinn
