The Holberg Symposium: ‘Where is History Moving? New Directions in Writing the Past’

How we do history, who writes it and what it includes have changed hugely over the last thirty years. What are the most important new directions, and what are the challenges as well as gains? This academic symposium is held in honour of the 2026 Holberg Laureate, Lyndal Roper. The Laureate introduces the topic, followed by presentations by invited guests, a panel discussion and in the end an open Q&A session. Speakers: - Lyndal Roper, 2026 Holberg Laureate, and Regius Chair of History Emeritus at the University of Oxford - Annette Kehnel, Professor and Chair of Medieval History, University of Mannheim - John-Paul Ghobrial, Professor of Modern and Global History, University of Oxford - Barbara D. Savage, Professor Emerita of Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania The event will be moderated by Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, Professor of Anthropology, University of Bergen, and Academic Director of the Holberg Prize. Lyndal Roper is the Regius Chair of History Emeritus at the University of Oxford. Her pioneering studies have reshaped understandings of witch persecutions, the German Peasants’ War (1524–1525), and the life and thought of Martin Luther, illuminating how gender, the body, psyche and power operated in social and religious conflicts of the sixteenth century. Roper’s work is widely renowned for its methodological innovativeness and capacity to cut across disciplinary boundaries. Event image: Collage with details from artwork in the Public Domain. From the left: “The Chess Player” (1555) by Sofonisba Anguissola, “Laura Bassi” (1711?) by A. di Lorenzo, “Țărancă” (1954) by Iosif Iser, “Portret van een zwarte jonge vrouw met hoofdkapje” (1645) by Wenceslaus Hollar and “Mercy Otis Warren” (1763?) by John Singleton Copley.