“History – Academic Research & Professional Practice” master’s programme
With an exhibition at the German Steam Locomotive Museum, the new degree programme “History – Academic Research & Professional Practice” is making its mark in the region.
For thousands of years, a spectacular past has been one of the main characteristics that cultures have sought to ascribe to themselves. Similarly, newly founded universities are keenly aware of the problem of having to distinguish themselves without the advantages of heritage, when performance is all that counts, and there is no aura of glorious times to bathe in.
History as an academic discipline, on the other hand, has a reputation for being sober, unemotional, and text-laden. Those who study it usually intend to become teachers or researchers. Yet the career prospects it affords are actually manifold. In the English-speaking world, public historian is already an established job title for historians who professionally package their subject for TV, companies, museums, and other areas of adult education, and exploit the special charisma of the past for thoroughly mundane purposes.
The programme of the master's programme “History – Academic Research & Professional Practice“, led by the Institute of Franconian Regional History based in Thurnau, explicitly includes carefully supervised projects that bring history into the public sphere. In addition to modern formats such as blogs, these include very classical exhibitions as well. One such exhibition was developed by student Niklas Kolb for the German Steam Locomotive Museum in Neuenmarkt, see also: www.dampflokmuseum.de
Niklas Kolb designed the exhibition of the German Steam Locomotive Museum as a student project.
private / Niklas Kolb
This exhibition looks back at the history of the Pendolinos, which revolutionised the railway connection to Bayreuth in the 1990s: synchronized timetables and competitive travel times represented thoroughly modern rail transport. This was made possible by the thorough use of so-called tilting technology: the train leaning into curves makes higher speeds possible.
Niklas Kolb, asked about his experience of the course supervised by Prof. Dr. Martin Ott, emphasises that university teaching was most helpful in practice. Indeed, the conception and structuring of exhibitions and creating appropriate text were central to the course. Nevertheless, the practical learning curve was still steep. Above all, the time factor should not be underestimated. History itself also came in helpful. It is only with the historical perspective of the difficulties of constructing a railway in the narrow Pegnitz valley that the latest developments can be fully appreciated.
Niklas Kolb, student of the master’s programme “History – Academic Research & Professional Practice”, in front of a predecessor of the Pendolino.
private / Niklas Kolb
He is therefore highly satisfied with his choice of studies, and has meanwhile decided to focus on three projects at once. Niklas Kolb believes he has also benefited theoretically. In fact, his next exhibition will include fewer texts and more objects, the often bureaucratic organisation of which, however, even the best university grades will not aid.
Those involved were highly satisfied with the public response to the exhibition, despite the coronavirus restrictions. It became clear to visitors that the past must not be kept at arm’s length. After all, this is the central railway connection of the region, and yet Its future remains more than uncertain given the absence of investment in modernising its technology over the last decades.
If the Pendolino becomes history, the fast connection to Nuremberg will also be at an end. In this regard, Niklas Kolb has realised one of the ideals of the participatory museum, as it is cultivated in the USA in particular: Your story will be told!
Hence, the diverse projects of students of the new degree programme, such as those of Niklas Kolb, simultaneously impact the region and systemically promote the University’s third mission.