OUR WORK

AHDR Research Policy

Goal: To produce and disseminate knowledge and research findings on the issues of history, historiography, history teaching, and history learning

Research Agenda

In line with its overarching research goal, the Association’s research agenda concentrates on three areas of research: History and historical sciences, history education and history didactics, and the Social context and history education. More specifically, the aim is:

  • to advance knowledge on Cyprus’s recent history and provide new readings of the past;
  • to foster multiperspectivity and historical thinking among children and youth, educators and society at large;
  • to encourage new approaches to teaching and learning history;
  • to promote comparative historical research and research on history education across physical, temporal, and cultural contexts wherein similar experiences of social division as in Cyprus may have taken place;
  • and to historically contextualize history education and history research transpiring in both formal and informal settings in terms of the socioeconomic, cultural, and political dimensions of the local as well as the broader international and supranational scene.

History/Historical Sciences

History Education/History Didactics

Social context and History Education

Provide opportunities for research that a) will open new horizons in areas that existing historiography in our country has not yet opened and b) create new readings and approaches to past issues.

The goal is to produce a coherent historical content grounded in historical research, especially in relation to Cyprus’s history, on which to base our teaching and learning material and methodologies.

Research on children’s and adolescents’ historical thinking

Research on teachers’ historical thinking and teaching practices

Action research in implementing new approaches in history teaching

Policy analysis of the ways in which the educational systems in Cyprus approach history education

Comparative analysis of textbooks

Comparative research of history education, especially in societies experiencing interethnic/intercommunal conflict

(N.Ireland, South Africa, Palestine – Israel, etc) or with segregated educational systems

Explore how technology and technology supported applications can enhance history education

Provide research opportunities to a) relate history education with the broader socioeconomic, cultural, and political context as it pertains to issues of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, disability, and age; b) connect history education with other fields of education such as media education, citizenship education, religious education, museum education etc.; c) situate history education in social processes and social exchange that occur in both formal and informal settings, such as public debates on history or history education (public history), schools’ historical culture, the hidden curriculum (school’s national celebrations, marches, museum visits, etc), etc.

Review Process

 

The AHDR may choose to pursue self-funded research or to participate as a leading partner or as one of the partners in research projects funded by other organizations. Regardless of the form (self- or externally funded) a project will assume, the responsibility for determining the research agenda and ensuring that pursued projects are aligned with it falls on the Board which decides in consultation and collaboration with the members of the Association.

The following apply as general rules of principle and practice unless otherwise determined by external funding organizations and sponsors:

AHDR welcomes research proposals from all researchers interested in collaborating with the Association. Board members may participate in research projects only as members of the research team. They are not, however, eligible to conduct research for the Association as principal investigators.

Research proposals submitted to the Association go through a blind-review process by a review committee appointed by the Board and which consists of Board members and external reviewers. Researchers participating in any form in research proposals submitted to/for the Association are not eligible to participate in proposal review committees.

One of the main aims of the Association is to promote intercultural dialogue. Thus, the Association encourages: a) the submission of project proposals and research interests from members of both Communities as well as other sociocultural groups and b) the submission of projects with multicultural research consortiums. Every effort will be made to ensure equal opportunity is met in terms of proposal selection.

The Association may seek strategic collaborations on self-funded research projects with researchers with an established track record in their scientific fields provided the Board has reviewed the researcher’s work and has decided their interests make for a good match with the Association’s research agenda.

Research proposals submitted on behalf of the Association are reviewed by experts who are sought to provide feedback on the quality and feasibility of the research proposal.

Research proposals are evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Relevance of the proposed project’s goal to the Association’s research agenda
  • Originality and importance of the proposed project
  • Academic and scientific rigorousness of the project and its contribution to the desired disciplinary dialogue.
  • Adherence to scientific and ethical methods of inquiry
  • Educational value and implications of research
  • Feasibility (in terms of budget and time line)
  • Dissemination