The purpose of this study is to explore the popular computer game Europa Universalis IV and how the use of history looks inside the game and its potential use during lessons.There is also a second purpose to this study and it is to shine some light on how students between the ages of thirteen and fifteen think about history-based videogames and their use in a classroom situation. In order to get the some answers from the students I created a survey that was sent out to two schools in Sweden. The survey contained, among other things, questions about the students’ own experiences with history-based games and if they had learned anything by playing them. Another thing the surveyasked about was their opinion on games being used during class and what advantages and disadvantages they bring forth. The result of both studies was really interesting in their own way. For the first part EU4 is a complicated game which uses history to a great extent, somtimes in a good and educational way, but also in a way to make money. Secondly, the survey that was sent out to the schools gave some inspired answers. They showed that our studnets today are aware of the different ways history can be used, as well as what the games can teach us. Finally, this survey also showed that our young students have wise thoughts about the pros and cons with computer games during class.

The purpose of our degree project is to create an understanding of how three history textbooks and the textbook publishers make use of the use of history. The questions that we have started from are: How is the use of history presented in the textbooks? Is the depiction of history use the same between the books? When we were investigating we used the method called text analysis, and we analyzed the textbooks SOL NOVA HISTORIA 9, Utkik historia 7-9 and Fundament historia 7-9. When we have analyzed we have used books on theory by professor of History Klas-Göran Karlsson and professor of social sciences didactics Kenneth Nordgren. The conclusion of our degree project is that the history textbooks seem to have traces of both our theorists but Klas-Göran Karlsson's theory is the one that has more room in comparison to Nordgren. The reason is because the history books' description of different ways of using history is often closer to Karlsson's typology than to Nordgren´s. We can also see this because one of the books has used one of Karlsson's typologies, the moral use of history. An example of a similarity that we have seen between the books is that the use of history is a conscious act that people or groups do in order to achieve their purpose. Another similarity is that the books use similar examples when it comes to using history. An example with a similar theme between the textbooks are on the usage of ancient history such as Alexander the Great and how the use of history has an impact on Macedonian and Greek identity today. An example of a difference between the books, is that the use of history is given different amounts of space. Another example of a difference that we have seen between the books is that one of them has mentioned in its description of the use of history that history can also be used unconsciously. This is interesting because our theorists have described the use of history as a conscious act.

This G-3 essay aimed to study how people on three American left leaning social medias appoint queer identities to historical people and the discourse around this appointment. This was studied through the theoretical lenses of queer theory and the use of history. The source material consisted of posts from Tumblr, Twitter and Reddit and it was studied both quantitatively and qualitatively through the method of conceptual history. The historical people examined were Queen Christina of Sweden and King James VI and I of Scotland and England. This essay discovered that a wide variety of queer identities were appointed to the royals. However, all queer identities appointed were identities that matched the discoveries scientists have made about the royals’ lives. Furthermore, between one third and half of all posts used sources to justify the appointment of queer identities. The use of history in all posts were found to be either existential in nature – showing a desire to find connections with other queer people through history – or moral – using history to argue against current injustice against queer people.

Läromedel i alla ämnen måste alltid vara anpassade efter den nuvarande kursplanen. I ämnet historia är läroböcker fortfarande materialet som huvudsakligen används i undervisning. Därför är det viktigt att dessa böcker blir granskade och analyserade efter det centrala innehållet av den aktuella kurs- eller ämnesplanen. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att granska 6 aktuella läroböcker i kursen historia 1b och jämföra dem med den nuvarande kursplanens centrala innehåll. Resultatet visade att alla 6 läroböcker uppfyller de kraven för det centrala innehållet, mer eller mindre utförligt, speciellt med hänsyn till de historieteoretiska begrepp som framförs i historia1b ämnesplanen. Resultatet visar dessutom att författarna av de olika läroböckerna har olika åsikter om vad elever skall lära sig. / Learning materials in all subjects must always be adapted to the current curriculum. In the subject of history, textbooks are still the material mainly used in teaching. Therefore, it is important that these books are reviewed and analyzed according to the central content of the current course or subject plan. The purpose of this essay is to review 6 current textbooks in the history 1b course and compare them with the core content of the current curriculum. The result showed that all 6 textbooks meet the requirements of the central content, more or less extensively, especially with regard to the theoretical concepts of history presented in the history 1b subject plan. The result also shows that the authors of the different textbooks have different opinions about what students should learn.

Den här studien använder en bred förståelse av begreppet medeltider för att visa hur värden och handlingsnormer skapas och omförhandlas i samtida historiebruk. Den bidrar till analysen och diskussionen kring minnespolitikens centrala spänningsförhållanden där representativa demokratiska och nationella mål ställs mot direkt demokratiska och mångkulturella tankemönster. I två fallstudier som följer medeltidsbruket i Östergötland synliggörs hur spänningen påverkar och hanteras i praktiken. Den ena fallstudien följer tätt på en konflikt mellan bevarande av människoskelett från en medeltida avrättningsplats i Vadstena och näringslivsutveckling i form av en fabriksutbyggnad. Den andra utgår från orten Skänninge och tecknar en bredare bild av hur det medeltida förflutna och dess materiella spår i landskapet används i regional och lokal utvecklingspolitik. De empiriska studierna följer aktörer i olika situationer och hur dessa binds upp kring varierande problemformuleringar. Fokus ligger på hur dessa processer går till, vilka resurser som utnyttjas men också på retorik och handling. Analysen resulterar i tre övergripande mobiliseringsprocesser vilka kopplas till begrepp som bevarande, upplevelse och lokal politik. Genom dessa synliggörs hur bruket av medeltider följer parallella värdesystem och logiker vilket när de interagerar skapar konfliktfyllda situationer. Avhandlingen visar hur de traditionella institutionernas strukturer utgör en barriär vilken motverkar en samverkan mellan de många aktörsgrupperna, det breda bruket av det förflutna som den nationella politiska retoriken efterfrågar. / This study apply to a broad understanding of the term Middle-Ages as an analytical concept to show how values and norms of actions are established and negotiated through contemporary uses of history. It contributes to the analysis and discussion of central tensions in memory policy between, on one hand, the representative democratic system, and on the other hand, a direct democracy based on the idea of everyone's ability and right to participate in the use of the history. In two case studies, that maps the use of the Middle-Ages in the county of Östergötland, this study shows how this tension effects and is handled by Stakeholders in every day praxis. One case focus on a conflict between, on one hand, ancient remains of human skeletons from a medieval gallows hill, and on the other hand, private business development due to the construction of a new factory in the town of Vadstena. The other case analyses a broader use of the Middle-Ages as resources in regional and local development policies in the town of Skänninge. The study analysis varied situations where Stakeholders are mobilized around different problems. It focus on how these processes are carried out and which recourses that are used, both rhetorical and through actions. The study shows how values of the past is created, produced and negotiated in contemporary processes of mobilization which are related to terms such as Preservation, Experience and Local policies. It also shows how traditional institutional structures creates barriers that prevent fruitful cooperation between the Stakeholders, and the broader use of the past that the national policies are asking for.

Local heritage societies were established in Sweden for about a hundred years ago. The societies responded to the large changes of industrialisation, emigration and urbanisation during that time. Today there are about 2 000 societies with almost half a million members altogether. Why do people turn to local heritage societies today? The image of them, associated with folklore costumes and quaint old cottages, is not consistent with the extensive activity in the 21st century. That raises questions that have not been clarified in previous research. The aim of this thesis is to find out what today's local heritage societies do, as well as to investigate what their meanings are for people and the local society. Thereby the intention is to contribute to an understanding of their present extent and endurance over time. The activities of three local heritage societies in and around the city of Linköping are mapped out in this thesis. The survey shows extensive and very broad activities that are well adjusted to present time. The traditional image has become rigid, but in parts it is accurate since the activities are still dominated by local use of history., which also contributes to their extent and continuity. Place and history as common ground is something universal: The need for people to be oriented in time and space contributes to the persistence of the local heritage societies. At the same time there seems to be something strong in society today which contributes to their extent. The thesis shows that the societies can have knowledge-generating, ideological, existential and social meaning. Through the local heritage society people can learn about, evaluate and gain feelings for the place. The society also contributes to strengthening the power of togetherness in the local community as a part of the civilian society. The multifaceted meaning of the activities makes it possible for the societies to keep or even strengthen their attraction, especially among the large group of retired people. / Hembygdsföreningar etablerades i Sverige för omkring hundra år sedan. Föreningarna svarade mot den tidens stora förändringar med industrins framväxt, emigrationen och flykten från landsbygden. Idag finns det omkring 2 000 föreningar med sammanlagt nära en halv miljon medlemmar. Varför söker sig människor till hembygdsföreningar idag? Den gängse bilden av föreningarna som bakåtsträvande och förlegade stämmer inte in på en omfattande verksamhet på 2000-talet. Det väcker frågor om hembygdsföreningar, som inte har klargjorts i tidigare forskning. Avhandlingen syftar till att ta reda på vad samtida hembygdsföreningar gör och att undersöka deras betydelser för människor och lokalsamhälle. Härigenom vill avhandlingen också bidra till att förstå deras nutida omfattning och uthållighet över tid. I avhandlingen kartläggs verksamheten i tre hembygdsföreningar i och omkring staden Linköping i Östergötland. Kartläggningen visar på en omfattande och mycket bred verksamhet som är väl anpassad till sin samtid. Den traditionella bilden är stelnad, men till delar stämmer den genom att föreningarnas verksamhet domineras av lokalt historiebruk, som också bidrar till deras omfattning och kontinuitet. Det står å ena sidan för något allmänmänskligt: Människans orientering i tid och rum, som bidrar till att föreningarna alltid är aktuella. Å andra sidan framträder intresset för det lokala och för historia som två starka strömningar i samtiden. Avhandlingen visar att föreningarna har kunskapsgenererande, ideologiska, existentiella och sociala betydelser. Genom hembygdsföreningen kan människor lära sig om, värdera och få känslor för platsen. Föreningen bidrar också till att stärka kraften och gemenskapen i lokalsamhället som en del av det civila samhället. Den mångfasetterade betydelsen av verksamheten gör att föreningarna har lyckats behålla eller till och med stärka sin attraktionskraft, särskilt bland den stora gruppen pensionärer.

This paper examines how the ideal of manhood is portrayed and constructed and how the participation of Swedish soldier volunteers are motivated and legitimatized. The purpose of this examination is to gain understanding and knowledge about the Swedish soldiers in the Swedish brigade, how they legitimatize and motivate their participation and how the ideal of manhood is portrayed and constructed. The study is based on material from the war archive in Stockholm. The empirical material is composed by letters and propaganda material. In the analysis of the empirical study, there have been two theories used which are Eric Hobsbawms historical method and theory about invented traditions and Peter Aronssons historical method and theory about ‘historiebruk’ and legitimacy. The method I used for analyzing my empirical material is the genetic-biography method which aims the interest to the text, language in the text, the words and the sentences. The field of research about the finish civil war in 1918 is very large and that is why I made a selection in order to choose which research should represent the rest of the field. The selection is based on the reasoning about the class conflict, eye witnesses and the picture of the finish civil war, the freedom war and the participation of the Swedish soldier volunteers. The result in this study and examination shows how the ideal of manhood is constructed usually by a soldier who often sacrifices his own life and becomes a hero, a freedom fighter that stands up against the violence from the east, the so called bolsjevikempire. The participation of the Swedish soldier volunteers is legitimatized through several ways. The legitimization is often connected to the past and the Swedish nation in order to accept the actions and the participation of the Swedish soldiers.

No description available.

This study aims to analyse the representation of Scottish and English national identity in the tv-series Outlander (2014-). By recreating a historically influenced narrative of relations between Scotland and England, in the aftermath of the Union of 1707 and the upcoming Jacobite rebellion of 1745, the series also mediate a disputed collective British identity. Therefore, it is imperative to analyse how pop-culture functionalises memories of nations’ historical past to influence contemporary identities. First, I establish an inventory of semiotic mythic tokens of national identity. I then conduct a contextual analysis of national discursive identity on these. A further theoretical sociohistorical framework of contemporary ideology, mediated through pop-culture, materialises Outlanders impact on viewers’ own creation of identity. Through representations of myth Outlander mediates the stereotypical, romanticised image of Scottish highlanders as “superstitious barbarians” - a dualistic concept of national identity, depending on its context. To the viewer it’s an idealised image of someone rebellious, living outside the industrialised and modernised society. To the English/British soldiers it’s an image of the underdeveloped, uncivilised savage, the soldiers themselves being portrayed in Outlander as the cultivated superior in pursuit of cultural salvation for their inferior. The national discourse of both nations is symbiotic and dependent, each in need of the other’s binary identity to recreate its own. However, establishing a collective British national identity in Outlander also means a cultural sacrifice of the inferior to the superior – the cultural heritage of British identity should build on English national discourse alone. An important conclusion this study draws is the similarity between the dependency national discourses have to their binary “other” and contemporary society depending on the past in the creation of its identity. This recreational process is no longer, in a time of mass media, solely inherited by individual collective communities.

Kulturarvsplatser kan betraktas på olika sätt av olika människor. Samtidigt finns kol-lektiva föreställningar om hur en kulturarvsplats bör förstås. Mellan dessa utgångs-punkter sker förhandlingar om kulturarvsplatsens betydelse och värde. Syftet med studien är att förstå hur en plats, institutionellt utpekad som kulturarv, används och iscensätts genom mångsidiga och korsande praktiker, både via media och på plats. Två fall undersöks som har olika inriktningar men båda inom svensk kulturmiljö-vård: kulturreservatet komministerbostället Råshult i sydvästra Kronoberg i Småland som är botanikern Carl von Linnés födelseplats och den publika uppdragsarkeologiska verksamheten i Slättbygdsprojektet i västra Östergötland. Frågorna berör vilka arenor medieringen sker, dess tematik/innehåll, iscensättningen av kulturarvet samt hur besö-karna uppfattar sitt besök av platsen och de strategiska aktörernas visioner för platsen. Metodiskt följs en tänkt besökares väg till kulturarvsplatsen och faktiska besökare vid platsen. Både i slättbygdens undersökningsrum och vid Linnés Råshult synliggörs den kollektiva föreställningarna som huvudsakligen en vetenskaplig studieplats och en skattkammare för särskilt värdefulla ting. Besökarna lyfter dock fram de sociala aspekterna av besöket. Besökarens tolkning existerar och konkurrerar med andra bilder av platserna. Det saknas dock arenor som synliggör och sätter dessa i förbindelse med de strategiska aktörerna, trots mycket offentligt tal om demokratisering av kulturarvs-processerna under senare år. Olika materials bilder har på så sätt lagts jämte varandra för att synliggöra dynamik, förhandling, konkurrens och bristande dialog kring en plats. / Cultural heritage sites can be looked at differently by different people. These sites also carry collective understandings of how they should be understood. Between these two outsets there are negotiations of the sites’ meaning and value. The aim of this thesis is to understand how a place, institutionally pointed out as cultural heritage, is used and staged through diverse and intersecting practices, both through media and on the heri-tage site. Two differently oriented cases are researched within Swedish cultural heritage preservation: one the birthplace of Carolus Linnaeus, the botanist, which is a cultural reservation located at Råshult in the south of Sweden, and the other a commissioned archaeological project called Slättbygdsprojektet in Östergötland in mid Sweden. The questions concern on what arenas the mediation happens, its theme/content, the staging of the cultural heritage, as well as the visitors’ experiences and the strategic actors’ visions of the site. Methodically I follow both a fictive visitor’s way to the heritage site and actual visitors on site. Both in Slättbygdsprojektet and at Linnés Råshult the collective understandings of the sites are mainly viewed as a place for scientific study and a treasure chamber for especially valuable objects. The visitors especially highlight the social aspects of their visit. The visitors’ interpretation exists and competes with other images. However, there are no arenas that can make them visible, to put them in relation with the strategic actors, despite much public speech in recent years about democratizing cultural heri-tage processes. Images of different researched materials of the site have been juxta-posed to make visible the dynamic, negotiations, competition and lack of dialogue about cultural heritage sites.