This academic year, a joint virtual course taught in tandem by Dr. Lina Nikou (HUJI) and Dr. Kim Wünschmann (Munich) brought together students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and LMU Munich, with the aim of jointly exploring various public re/presentations of history in the urban and virtual spheres of the two cities.

Students learned about the up-and-coming field of public history in theory and practice, and applied its methods to topics of personal interest. Throughout the course participants engaged in an ongoing, international dialogue in which they reflected on their different perspectives. The final products are highly original audio-visual contributions which will soon be published on a website dedicated to the course, reflecting the unique form of inter-cultural virtual exchange that transpired. The website will facilitate the continued collaboration of the students beyond the confines of the course and make their explorations of local history public, an unanticipated and rewarding outcome!

As more than half of the participants have never visited the corresponding countries represented by the course, the element of internationalization at home was highly impactful. With the virtual classroom serving as their international sphere, students were able to experience and reflect on multi-perspectivity and diversity in class discussions, through peer-to-peer learning and in writing their final papers.