Children's exhibition: A History of Globalization in the 19th Century

Abstract:

There is no denying the fact that globalization heavily influences, structures and determines today’s world. Especially for children of the 2000s, (1) communication feels isolated from geographical distance most of the time; (2) trade with an incredible amount of goods ideally functions with the fastest means of transportation and (3) migration from A to B and C to A across and beyond all borders seems to appear in each and every news article.
Yet, how come that our present looks like it does now? When did this process of connecting, entangling, and shrinking the world begin? Under the three aspects (1) communication, (2) trade, and (3) migration, the project "Children's Exhibition" seeks to explore the historicity of globalization and as a development set in the context of the late 19th century - a time where pace, capitalism, and travel increased extraordinarily as well. Schoolkids will be introduced to this maybe not so strange world long gone and understand the relevance and impact of overarching connections through carefully researched historical source material, exciting representatives of the past, and creative engagement in activities. The boys and girls will send telegraph messages across the Atlantic, embark an emigrant ship to the United States of America and agree on the best deals to transport coal, bananas, and cotton - thus enacting and (hopefully) memorizing the "stories that connect the world".

Nature of the project:

TransferLab Projekt

Duration:

2017-

Participating researchers:

Daniela Egger
Dr. Susanne Hohler
Anna Sophia Nübling, MA
Susanne Quitmann, MA
Silvia Risch
Christoph Streb, MA