The professorship in the "Didactics of History" department is (temporarily) vacant as of 1 April 2016. If necessary, please contact the department staff or the respective institute director with your enquiry.

The work of the Department of History Didactics is characterised by a dual focus: At its centre are the various teaching degree programmes and teaching-related research on the one hand, and teaching and research on historical culture on the other.

The focus on historical culture: In recent decades, the term "historical culture" has developed into the second central concept of history didactics (alongside "historical awareness"). In the Department of History Didactics, special attention is paid to the various institutions and forms of historical culture (museums, archives, monument preservation, media, tourism, advertising, etc.). This is done not only in the form of seminars and research work, but also through close and practical co-operation, especially with museums and archives in the region. This cooperation also has a positive effect on the Institute of History's participation in the postgraduate programme "Museum and Exhibition". The focus of research is on dealing with history "on site" - a few years ago, the"Regional History Cultures Unit" was therefore founded at the Institute together with Prof. Dr Malte Thießen.

The focus on history teaching: both the grammar school teaching profession as well as primary and secondary school teaching professions and, in future, also the vocational school teaching profession are taken into account in research and teaching. In the Bachelor's degree programme, the department is responsible for the modules "History as an academic appointment" (ges171) and "Methods and media of history teaching" (ges172); in addition, the orientation and vocational field internships in the subject of history are also supervised here and seminars on topics of historical culture are offered at irregular intervals in the professionalisation and profile building area. In the Master of Education for Hauptschule and Realschule, the department supervises the six-month practical phase in schools in the region as well as the project band and offers the module "History teaching at Hauptschule and Realschule" (ges174) in cooperation with the specialised department. In the Master of Education for grammar schools, the department prepares students for the specialist internship in the school, supervises the "research and development internship" and, if necessary in cooperation with the subject area, conducts the module "History teaching at grammar schools" (ges173). In addition, the department also offers courses in the Master of Education in Special Needs Education, the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Education and, in future, the Master of Education in Business Education. Numerous students also decide to write their final theses in the History Didactics department (in and out of school) for their Bachelor's or Master's degree programmes.

In teaching-related research, special attention is paid to early historical learning at primary school and the transfer of scientific findings into teaching practice. Empirical teaching/learning research also plays a central role in the Department of History Didactics. The aim is to improve historical learning at all levels of school by surveying pupils' ideas about history and using them constructively to structure lessons as well as analysing teachers' ideas about history lessons. In addition, the connection between language and historical learning is being empirically researched in two ongoing dissertations. Further information can be found on the pages of the members of the department.