The GHC Joint Seminars are an opportunity for researchers in the field of global history to present and discuss their research and to foster research exchanges and greater mutual understanding. The first joint seminar was held in Berlin in 2014, and the second was held in Paris in 2015. On January 27 and 28, 2017, the third GHC Joint Seminar was held at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia of The University of Tokyo. The theme of the seminar was “Sources in Global History,” and over 50 participants, including researchers from the GHC’s four participating institutions (Princeton University, L'École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, The University of Tokyo) and two researchers from China, were in attendance on both days. The seminar comprised seven sessions and a total of 14 presentations.

 

Day 1: January 27

Morning session

In session one, the discussion revolved around the points to bear in mind when using multiple archives and the methodologies for combining sources.

 

Session 1: Multiple Sources

Moderator: HANEDA Masashi (Tokyo)

Alessandro Stanziani (EHESS), “Multiple Archives and Pluralistic Sources of Global History”

DONG Shaoxin (Fudan), “The Ming-Qing Dynastic Transition: A Global Event based on Multinational Sources”

 

Afternoon sessions

In session two, the presentations and discussions revolved around the theme of analytical scale in global history research. In session three, the discussion examined the notion that, in the context of global history, scientific literature and sources containing iconography are important subject matter for examining how knowledge and information has been communicated.

 

Session 2: Scale and Concept

Moderator: Andreas Eckert (Berlin)

Beth Lew-Williams (Princeton), “The Question of Scale in the History of Overseas Chinese”

Lisa Hellman (Tokyo), “Finding the Story behind the Label, and Labeling It”

 

Session 3: Tokugawa Japan

Moderator: Jeremy Adelman (Princeton)

Federico Marcon (Princeton), “Interpreting Tokugawa-period Sources for a Global History of Science: A Semiotic Approach”

OKA Mihoko (Tokyo), “Geographical Description of Asia on the Map Screen (Sekaizu Byobu) in the Edo Period”

 

Day 2: January 28

Morning sessions

Sessions 4 and 5 were focused on how sources other than textual sources, and how eras and regions generally thought to be peripheral to historical research, relate to global history. The theme of the fourth session was “Maps” and the theme of the fifth session was “Sources and Regions.”

Session 4: Maps

Moderator: Sheldon Garon (Princeton)

Marc Elie (EHESS), “Classifications as Sources for the History of the Globalization of Science”

SUGIMOTO Fumiko (Tokyo), “Modern Nautical Charts and Geo-Bodies”  

 

Session 5: Sources and Regions

Moderator: Alessandro Stanziani (EHESS)

Andreas Eckert (Humboldt), “Local Labor and Global Labor. Reading Sources for African Labor History in a Global Perspective”

TSUJI Asuka (Kawamuragakuen-Tokyo), “The Church of the East/Syriac Christianity in the Context of Global History”

 

Afternoon sessions

Sessions 6 and 7 were focused on the potential for global history research to incorporate the deciphering of non-textual sources. In the sixth session, the discussion examined the relationship between art and global history, and the interpretation of oral sources, in global history research. In the seventh session, the presentations and discussions focused on the use, validity, and applicability of visual media as evidentiary sources.

 

Session 6: Non-textual Sources

Moderator: HANEDA Masashi (Tokyo)

DENG Fei (Fudan), “Diffusion and Assimilation: Some Thoughts on Using Visual and Material Culture in Global History”

OTA Atsushi (Keio-Tokyo), “Voice of History, Competition of Tradition: Oral Sources and History (Re)creation Movements in West Kalimantan, Indonesia”

Session 7: Visual Sources

Moderator: Jeremy Adelman (Princeton)

KISHI Toshihiko (Kyoto-Tokyo), “Visual History Studies in Global Perspective”

Sheldon Garon (Princeton), “Writing Modern Transnational History through Visual and Archival Sources”

The participants of the third GHC Joint Seminar enjoyed many interesting and thought-provoking presentations, discussions, and Q&A sessions. Through the three joint seminars to date, a common understanding of the underlying methodologies and significance of global history research has been fostered among researchers affiliated to the GHC network. These seminars have also been invaluable opportunities for researchers to understand the similarities and differences in the viewpoints of colleagues from other institutions. It is our hope that many unique research achievements will be produced by using the knowledge and perspectives gained from these seminars.