About us
The History Educators International Research Network [HEIRNET] brings together colleagues from around the world interested in history education. We are a small, informal, warm and welcoming community; and as such, we look forward to your interest and involvement in HEIRNET.
HEIRNET’s purpose is to share and discuss international research into the aims, purposes and scope of history education for 3-25 year olds.
Our Conferences
HEIRNET annually hosts an international conference. The first HEIRNET conference, held in 2004 in Ambleside, led to increasingly supported and successful conferences, which were characterized by friendliness and informality, irrespective of academic status. Since then, the HEIRNET annual conferences takes place in varied locations, often in places where history and history education is a hotly contested subject. To date, our annual conferences have been held in Greece, South Africa, the USA, Brazil, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Corfu, Austria, England, the Netherlands, Sweden and Scotland. The 2020 meeting, due to take place in Amsterdam, was postponed due to the global pandemic and replaced by a virtual conference. The 2025 conference will take place in Cologne, Germany.
Our Publications
HEIRNET has had a leading role in the following publications:
- From 2002-2018, HEIRNET published the International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research
- From 2002-2018, HEIRNET published the International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research (IJHLTR, r.i.p.) in association with the Universities of Exeter, Cumbria and the Historical Association. All back numbers of HERJ are available (and other publications) at the University College London [UCL Press].
- From 2018, HEIRNET has been instrumental in the publishing of the History Education Research Journal [HERJ]
In 2018 the University College London, Institute of Education Press, [UCL IOE Press] became the publisher of IJHLTR, relaunched as the History Education Research Journal (HERJ) which Arthur Chapman of UCL Press, edits with the support of an editorial board.
Our Origins
In 2004, Dr Hilary Cooper, Professor of History and Pedagogy at the University of Cumbria and Dr Jon Nichol of Exeter University’s History Education Centre organized a conference for history educators at Ambleside, Cumbria, in northern England. Amazingly, about 40 people from every continent attended what turned out to be a very exciting conference, the hallmark of which was its friendly atmosphere. We decided to meet the next year, something we have continued to do annually (although 2020 was virtual) ever since.
