Cold War Textbook Project:
History From a Global Perspective

Date: August 17th, 2021

Time: 9:30~15:30(JST)

Language: English

Capacity: Approximately ten teams or individuals (on first come, first serve basis)

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What is Cold War Textbook Project?

A textbook-making project to think about and discuss “peace” from a historical perspective.

　The contexts of the history lessons we take in school vary greatly from country to country,
representing how different nations have contrasting perspectives on a topic. This difference is also apparent in textbooks, too. For example, we can see various differences when comparing history textbooks from Japan and the US. American textbooks generally describe various historical events more widely and deeply, while Japanese textbooks tend to only mention events that are related to Japan. Of course these “gaps” come from the differences in the educational and college entrance exam systems, so it can be said that they arise naturally. However, differences in education can affect one individual's historical cognition as well. Taking these differences into consideration, we felt the need to create an opportunity for students worldwide to understand the “gap” in their historical education and hear diverse perspectives on a specific topic. We hope to achieve this through this event, in which participants will do a presentation on the topic of the Cold Warーa war that continued for 45 years and affected the world in unimaginable waysーand ultimately make one big textbook by bringing all their infographics together. On the day of the conference, participants will present to each other, and then discuss the differences in their historical education, perspectives, and historical awareness. We hope participants will each make a unique presentation and explain how their country was affected by this proxy war. We look forward to seeing all of your presentations and having an insightful discussion!