{"id":7883,"date":"2018-11-22T07:07:55","date_gmt":"2018-11-22T06:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/on-creating-a-research-poster-for-an-academic-conference\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T15:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T14:47:13","slug":"on-creating-a-research-poster-for-an-academic-conference","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/on-creating-a-research-poster-for-an-academic-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"On creating a research poster for an academic conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Historians like to write, and they write a lot. Throughout my studies in history, I was taught how to analyse sources and how to write a scientific work. But I have never been taught how to present my research in a poster format \u2013 which requires a minimum amount of creativity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Public History conference in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil (21 to 24 August 2018) gave me the opportunity to present, for the first time in my life, a research poster.[1]<\/sup><\/a> A year ago, I did not even know that something like poster sessions at conferences exists and I had no clue how a research poster should look like. I talked to some colleagues and searched for examples on the internet. I needed to answer two basic questions: who should the poster (theoretically) address and what subject would I like to present? For the first question, my answer was clear: of course, there would be academics at the conference, but considering that it was in a Public History context, I imagined a broader public, who should be able to understand my poster with a minimum of information. For the second question, I decided after some reflections that I would choose a subject from my own research on cultural policy history and connect it to public history. I wanted to use the Centenary of Independence in Luxembourg in 1939 as an example not only of cultural policy, but also of public history.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1939, Luxembourg, a small country between Belgium, France and Germany, commemorated the year 1839, interpreted as the year Luxembourg acquired its independence. The date was a deliberate choice, especially as the development of an autonomous state was a process which did not happen from one day to the next \u2013 other dates of the 19th<\/sup> century were important for Luxembourg as well (such as 1815, when Luxembourg became a Grand-Duchy). Furthermore, the Centenary took place in a context of international tensions, mixed with fears of an outbreak of war and of German annexationism. The government clearly wanted to show, especially to its neighbours, that it was a legitimately independent nation-state. A national commission was instituted to coordinate and organise the celebration. It created several sub-committees dedicated to specific tasks. At least 60 people were involved in these committees: politicians, engineers, journalists, teachers, etc. One of them was the historian, teacher and museum curator Joseph Meyers (1900-1964).<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The celebration disseminated the master narrative which was very influential at the time. For some, 1839 merely marked the resurgence of independence, after centuries of \u201cforeign dominations\u201d preceded by the medieval period during which, as the master narrative goes, Luxembourg was \u201cautonomous\u201d. Joseph Meyers was a member of the committee for the historical pageant, organized as part of the official programme of the main celebration in the capital on 22 and 23 April 1939. Meyers published a textbook in 1939 on the history of Luxembourg, reusing elements of the master narrative. His exact influence on the pageant cannot be determined in hindsight with the sources at hand, but it is clear that the discussions were also influenced by the master narrative. The Centenary celebration was certainly an example of a \u201cpre-history of public history\u201d (Chris Hilliard), and Joseph Meyers himself filled the role of a public historian, at a time when public history did not exist as a concept.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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