{"id":12990,"date":"2026-05-20T09:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T07:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/?post_type=articles&p=12990"},"modified":"2026-05-22T08:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:36:45","slug":"the-smartphone-as-historian","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/","title":{"rendered":"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\nWorkshop report<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n \n\"Prof

\n Prof Dr Machteld Venken \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu) <\/p>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

On 5 May 2026, the workshop \u201cThe Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom\u201d took place at the University of Luxembourg\u2019s Kirchberg Campus. The workshop was the third event of LUkraine Asbl\u2019s \u201cAdvocacy Coalition \u2013 Defending Our Future Now\u201d initiative and was organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Germany in Luxembourg and the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C\u00b2DH) of the University of Luxembourg. Four researchers from our project researching the collecting, preserving, analysing and disclosing of Ukrainian Testimonies of the War (U-CORE<\/a>), which is financed by the Luxembourg National Research Fund, guided the participants through the event. The workshop gathered around forty pupils aged sixteen and above. It was also attended by the Ambassadors of Belgium and the Czech Republic. The workshop is part of a broader diplomatic initiative aimed at raising awareness of Ukraine\u2019s ongoing fight for democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The workshop engaged young people in understanding the importance of documenting experiences, particularly in contexts of war and displacement, and ensuring that digital material can serve as reliable historical evidence. Through a documentary screening and three practical exercises, pupils examined how they can use their phones differently from what they are used to. In that process, they discovered how historians rely on the same tools, but with different objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n \n\"Dr

\n Dr Inna Ganschow \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu) <\/p>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n \n\"Ira

\n Ira Yeroshko, MA \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu) <\/p>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n \n\"Hands-on

\n Hands-on learning \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu) <\/p>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The workshop began with a reflective task in which students \u2013 under the guidance of Dr Inna Ganschow \u2013 retraced their morning routines, uncovering how frequently they rely on their phones and how much digital trace they leave behind without noticing. The second exercise focused on photography and was supported by PhD Candidate Ira Yeroshko. Pupils revisited one of the oldest images stored on their phones and explained its background to a classmate, illustrating how essential contextual information\u2014such as time, place and visual cues\u2014is for interpreting a photograph. In the final workshop, Prof Machteld Venken and Vladyslav Siulhin, BA guided pupils through the use of audio recordings as historical documentation. The session highlighted the responsibility that comes with capturing someone\u2019s voice, from securing consent to guaranteeing digital safety for wartime materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, pupils and teachers articulated their mutual learning process to each other, and Prof Andreas Fickers, Director of C\u00b2DH, emphasised the importance of contextualising digital content.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n\"Dr

\n Dr Heike Peitsch, Ambassador of Germany, Prof Dr Andreas Fickers, Director of C\u00b2DH, and Judith Reicherzer, Communication Specialist, Lyc\u00e9e Aline Mayrisch \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu) <\/p>\n <\/figure>\n\n

\n \n

\nAuthor(s)<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n \n\"Prof\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n
    \n

    Prof Machteld VENKEN<\/h3>\n

    Full professor\/Chief scientist 1 of Transnational Contemporary History (19th-20th century)<\/p>\n

    \n \n \n Learn more<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/use><\/svg> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cThe Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom\u201d workshop report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":12992,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"featured_image_focal_point":{"x":0.36,"y":0.26},"show_featured_caption":true,"ulux_newsletter_groups":"","uluxPostTitle":"","uluxPrePostTitle":"","_trash_the_other_posts":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"articles-category":[471],"articles-topic":[393],"organisation":[223,221],"authorship":[57],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom - C2DH EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom\u201d workshop report.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"C2DH EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/c2dh.lu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T06:36:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/\",\"name\":\"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom - C2DH EN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T07:05:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-22T06:36:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"Pupils listining to Andreas Fickers. \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C\u00b2DH)\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/\",\"name\":\"C2DH\",\"description\":\"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History I Uni.lu\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History I University of Luxembourg\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"C\u00b2DH - University of Luxembourg I Uni.lu\",\"alternateName\":\"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/03113407\/C2DH_SM-Profile_1600x1600px-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/03113407\/C2DH_SM-Profile_1600x1600px-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"C\u00b2DH - University of Luxembourg I Uni.lu\"},\"image\":\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/24144314\/20200609-Belval-Campus_Henri-Goergen-23.jpg\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/c2dh.lu\",\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/c2dh_lu\",\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/showcase\/c2dh-university-of-luxembourg\"],\"email\":\"communication@uni.lu\",\"telephone\":\"+3524666441\",\"address\":{\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"streetAddress\":\"11, Porte des Sciences\",\"addressLocality\":\"Esch-sur-Alzette\",\"postalCode\":\"4365\",\"addressCountry\":\"LU\"},\"description\":\"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History I Uni.lu\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom - C2DH EN","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom","og_description":"\u201cThe Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom\u201d workshop report.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/","og_site_name":"C2DH EN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/c2dh.lu","article_modified_time":"2026-05-22T06:36:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1125,"url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/","name":"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom - C2DH EN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-20T07:05:12+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-22T06:36:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/20084405\/Pupils-listining-to-Andreas-Fickers.jpg","width":1500,"height":1125,"caption":"Pupils listining to Andreas Fickers. \u00a9 Tetiana Popyk (tanitaphoto.lu)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/the-smartphone-as-historian\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C\u00b2DH)","item":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The Smartphone as Historian \u2013 Smartphones for Justice and Freedom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/","name":"C2DH","description":"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History I Uni.lu","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History I University of Luxembourg","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#organization","name":"C\u00b2DH - University of Luxembourg I Uni.lu","alternateName":"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History","url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/03113407\/C2DH_SM-Profile_1600x1600px-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/03113407\/C2DH_SM-Profile_1600x1600px-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2560,"caption":"C\u00b2DH - University of Luxembourg I Uni.lu"},"image":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/24144314\/20200609-Belval-Campus_Henri-Goergen-23.jpg","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/c2dh.lu","http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/c2dh_lu","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/showcase\/c2dh-university-of-luxembourg"],"email":"communication@uni.lu","telephone":"+3524666441","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"11, Porte des Sciences","addressLocality":"Esch-sur-Alzette","postalCode":"4365","addressCountry":"LU"},"description":"Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History I Uni.lu"}]}},"blog_id":7,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/12990"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/12990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13000,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/12990\/revisions\/13000"}],"wp:authorship":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"articles-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles-category?post=12990"},{"taxonomy":"articles-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles-topic?post=12990"},{"taxonomy":"organisation","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/organisation?post=12990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}