Johan Östling
@johanostling.bsky.social
Professor of history • Knowledge, ideas, people, universities, the humanities, Europe – past and present • Director of the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge (LUCK)
“A Cultural History of Higher Learning” – this massive work in six volumes is today published by Bloomsbury. Spanning 2,500 years, 67 scholars chart the dynamics of higher learning across the centuries. I am glad to have contributed a chapter on the history of disciplines in the 20th century.
October 30, 2025 at 1:04 PM
“A Cultural History of Higher Learning” – this massive work in six volumes is today published by Bloomsbury. Spanning 2,500 years, 67 scholars chart the dynamics of higher learning across the centuries. I am glad to have contributed a chapter on the history of disciplines in the 20th century.
Two new articles on the contemporary history of the university:
@Maria Simonsen, “Writing the History of a Reform University”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
Karl Haikola and Johan Östling, “Review Essay: The Europeanisation of the Universities”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
@Maria Simonsen, “Writing the History of a Reform University”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
Karl Haikola and Johan Östling, “Review Essay: The Europeanisation of the Universities”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
October 16, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Two new articles on the contemporary history of the university:
@Maria Simonsen, “Writing the History of a Reform University”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
Karl Haikola and Johan Östling, “Review Essay: The Europeanisation of the Universities”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
@Maria Simonsen, “Writing the History of a Reform University”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
Karl Haikola and Johan Östling, “Review Essay: The Europeanisation of the Universities”: doi.org/10.1515/9783...
New publication: “History of Intellectual Culture”, Vol. 4 of the yearbook that I edit with Charlotte A. Lerg and Jana Weiss.
Available open access: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Available open access: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
October 15, 2025 at 8:18 AM
New publication: “History of Intellectual Culture”, Vol. 4 of the yearbook that I edit with Charlotte A. Lerg and Jana Weiss.
Available open access: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Available open access: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Reposted by Johan Östling
The 2nd History of Knowledge Conference in Lund was fantastic, and I look forward to contributing to make the History of Knowledge Conference a tradition by organizing it in Utrecht, home of @jhokjournal.bsky.social, in 2027. More soon!
October 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The 2nd History of Knowledge Conference in Lund was fantastic, and I look forward to contributing to make the History of Knowledge Conference a tradition by organizing it in Utrecht, home of @jhokjournal.bsky.social, in 2027. More soon!
The second History of Knowledge Conference has come to an end. Over three intense days in Lund, around a hundred researchers have explored the history of knowledge from various perspectives.
It has been a real pleasure to host this conference and organise it with my wonderful colleagues at LUCK.
It has been a real pleasure to host this conference and organise it with my wonderful colleagues at LUCK.
October 10, 2025 at 1:35 PM
The second History of Knowledge Conference has come to an end. Over three intense days in Lund, around a hundred researchers have explored the history of knowledge from various perspectives.
It has been a real pleasure to host this conference and organise it with my wonderful colleagues at LUCK.
It has been a real pleasure to host this conference and organise it with my wonderful colleagues at LUCK.
THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE CONFERENCE
This week, on 8–10 October, LUCK is organizing The History of Knowledge Conference in Lund. I am delighted to be the host together with my dear colleagues.
The programme can be found here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/wp-content/u...
This week, on 8–10 October, LUCK is organizing The History of Knowledge Conference in Lund. I am delighted to be the host together with my dear colleagues.
The programme can be found here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/wp-content/u...
October 6, 2025 at 5:59 AM
THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE CONFERENCE
This week, on 8–10 October, LUCK is organizing The History of Knowledge Conference in Lund. I am delighted to be the host together with my dear colleagues.
The programme can be found here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/wp-content/u...
This week, on 8–10 October, LUCK is organizing The History of Knowledge Conference in Lund. I am delighted to be the host together with my dear colleagues.
The programme can be found here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/wp-content/u...
Universitetets grundfrågor fortsätter att engagera. I går var Linda Wedlin och jag inbjudna till Karolinska Institutet för diskussion om universitetens roll i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Spänstiga samtal om kollegialitet, akademisk frihet och om vi ser framväxten av en kinesisk universitetsmodell.
September 25, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Universitetets grundfrågor fortsätter att engagera. I går var Linda Wedlin och jag inbjudna till Karolinska Institutet för diskussion om universitetens roll i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Spänstiga samtal om kollegialitet, akademisk frihet och om vi ser framväxten av en kinesisk universitetsmodell.
New assignment: editor of Routledge’s book series “Knowledge Societies in History”. It will be truly stimulating to work with @svendupre.bsky.social as an editor of this series and thereby hopefully continue to develop the history of knowledge internationally.
September 23, 2025 at 5:55 AM
New assignment: editor of Routledge’s book series “Knowledge Societies in History”. It will be truly stimulating to work with @svendupre.bsky.social as an editor of this series and thereby hopefully continue to develop the history of knowledge internationally.
LUCK’s seminar series for the autumn of 2025 is out!
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
September 16, 2025 at 10:41 AM
LUCK’s seminar series for the autumn of 2025 is out!
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
Reposted by Johan Östling
Great lineup in this seminar series hosted at LUCK:
newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
#skystorians #earlymodern #mediahistory #bookhistory
newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
#skystorians #earlymodern #mediahistory #bookhistory
Autumn Seminar Series @LUCK
LUCK’s Seminar Series, Autumn 2025 8 October, 09.15–10.15 (LUX Nedre Aulan) An Early Information Society: Paris under the Ancien Régime* Robert Darnton (Harvard) 9 October, 13.00–14.00 (LUX Nedre A…
newhistoryofknowledge.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Great lineup in this seminar series hosted at LUCK:
newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
#skystorians #earlymodern #mediahistory #bookhistory
newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/09/16/a...
#skystorians #earlymodern #mediahistory #bookhistory
“Universities and the Public Good”. That is the title of a conference on research, education and democracy since 1945 in Hanover this week. Most of the researchers here are historians, but the questions raised are highly relevant for us today.
ghiworkshops.hypotheses.org/universities...
ghiworkshops.hypotheses.org/universities...
Universities and the Public Good
Universities and the Public Good: Research, Education, and Democracy since 1945 September 10 – 12, 2025 | Herrenhausen Palace Conference Center, Hanover, Germany Supported by the Volkswagen Foundation...
ghiworkshops.hypotheses.org
September 11, 2025 at 5:27 AM
“Universities and the Public Good”. That is the title of a conference on research, education and democracy since 1945 in Hanover this week. Most of the researchers here are historians, but the questions raised are highly relevant for us today.
ghiworkshops.hypotheses.org/universities...
ghiworkshops.hypotheses.org/universities...
Alumner – vilken roll spelar de för universiteten? I en ny avhandling ger sig Pia Widén i kast med ämnet och jämför Harvard, Penn State, Cambridge, Uppsala och Helsingfors från mitten av 1800-talet till i dag.
Min streckare om avhandlingen: www.svd.se/a/0VmM3M/alu...
Min streckare om avhandlingen: www.svd.se/a/0VmM3M/alu...
September 10, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Alumner – vilken roll spelar de för universiteten? I en ny avhandling ger sig Pia Widén i kast med ämnet och jämför Harvard, Penn State, Cambridge, Uppsala och Helsingfors från mitten av 1800-talet till i dag.
Min streckare om avhandlingen: www.svd.se/a/0VmM3M/alu...
Min streckare om avhandlingen: www.svd.se/a/0VmM3M/alu...
Reposted by Johan Östling
Pia Widén defending her thesis (hdl.handle.net/10138/599570), a pioneering comparative study of strategic alumni engagement at Cambridge, Uppsala, Harvard, Helsinki and Penn State universities 1840–2018, with Prof. Laura Kolbe as supervisor and Prof. @johanostling.bsky.social (Lund) as opponent.
August 29, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Pia Widén defending her thesis (hdl.handle.net/10138/599570), a pioneering comparative study of strategic alumni engagement at Cambridge, Uppsala, Harvard, Helsinki and Penn State universities 1840–2018, with Prof. Laura Kolbe as supervisor and Prof. @johanostling.bsky.social (Lund) as opponent.
I dag anordnas konferensen ”Forskaren i framtidens offentlighet” för andra året i rad. Liksom i fjol står Centrum för kunskapshistoria som värd. Det är mina goda kollegor @dlheidenblad.bsky.social och @bjornlundberg.bsky.social som har satt ihop ett fint program.
August 27, 2025 at 5:45 AM
I dag anordnas konferensen ”Forskaren i framtidens offentlighet” för andra året i rad. Liksom i fjol står Centrum för kunskapshistoria som värd. Det är mina goda kollegor @dlheidenblad.bsky.social och @bjornlundberg.bsky.social som har satt ihop ett fint program.
Last week, the sixth annual Summer School in the History of Knowledge brought together an international group of 20 Ph.D. candidates and early career researchers for lectures, seminars, and discussions in Lund. Thank you all for coming!
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/08/25/h...
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/08/25/h...
August 25, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Last week, the sixth annual Summer School in the History of Knowledge brought together an international group of 20 Ph.D. candidates and early career researchers for lectures, seminars, and discussions in Lund. Thank you all for coming!
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/08/25/h...
Read more here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/08/25/h...
Reposted by Johan Östling
Very happy to have spent 4 days at the Summer School organized by the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge. Great encounters, wonderful concepts to use, and exciting research ideas and perspectives. I warmly recommend it to all PhD students interested in the field!
Today, August 19, the sixth annual Summer School in the History of Knowledge opens. Over the next four days, an international group of 20 Ph.D. candidates and early career researchers will gather in Lund for seminars and discussions.
Thank you, @bjornlundberg.bsky.social, for coordinating this!
Thank you, @bjornlundberg.bsky.social, for coordinating this!
August 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Very happy to have spent 4 days at the Summer School organized by the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge. Great encounters, wonderful concepts to use, and exciting research ideas and perspectives. I warmly recommend it to all PhD students interested in the field!
Det stora forskningsprogrammet ”Demokrati och högre utbildning” samlas för internat på Sigtunastiftelsen. Denna tioåriga satsning från Uppsala universitet involverar en rad forskare. Tacksam att få ingå som extern representant i styrelsen.
August 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Det stora forskningsprogrammet ”Demokrati och högre utbildning” samlas för internat på Sigtunastiftelsen. Denna tioåriga satsning från Uppsala universitet involverar en rad forskare. Tacksam att få ingå som extern representant i styrelsen.
Today, August 19, the sixth annual Summer School in the History of Knowledge opens. Over the next four days, an international group of 20 Ph.D. candidates and early career researchers will gather in Lund for seminars and discussions.
Thank you, @bjornlundberg.bsky.social, for coordinating this!
Thank you, @bjornlundberg.bsky.social, for coordinating this!
August 19, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Today, August 19, the sixth annual Summer School in the History of Knowledge opens. Over the next four days, an international group of 20 Ph.D. candidates and early career researchers will gather in Lund for seminars and discussions.
Thank you, @bjornlundberg.bsky.social, for coordinating this!
Thank you, @bjornlundberg.bsky.social, for coordinating this!
Herfried Münkler pläderar i en ny bok för att det är hög tid för Tyskland att bejaka en stormaktsroll i Europa. Knappast en okontroversiell ståndpunkt i vårt södra grannland. I en understreckare skriver @olofbartas.bsky.social om stortyska drömmar och mardrömmar.
www.svd.se/a/alRdM7/naz...
www.svd.se/a/alRdM7/naz...
Nazismen ett svunnet problem i tysk historia? | Olof Bärtås
Tyskland rustar upp – men i Europas namn. I en ny bok pläderar den tyske statsvetaren Herfried Münkler för att tyskt ledarskap är nödvändigt. Men minnena av forna stortyska former är svåra att skaka a...
www.svd.se
August 15, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Herfried Münkler pläderar i en ny bok för att det är hög tid för Tyskland att bejaka en stormaktsroll i Europa. Knappast en okontroversiell ståndpunkt i vårt södra grannland. I en understreckare skriver @olofbartas.bsky.social om stortyska drömmar och mardrömmar.
www.svd.se/a/alRdM7/naz...
www.svd.se/a/alRdM7/naz...
Reposted by Johan Östling
I dag är det 80 år sedan den första atombomben fälldes över Hiroshima. Om vad det innebar då och därefter sammanfattar ingen mindre än @atommarie.bsky.social i SVT. www.svt.se/kultur/var-u...
”Det hade sannolikt betraktats som ett krigsbrott idag”
Reglerna kring kärnvapen har byggts upp efter världskriget
www.svt.se
August 6, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I dag är det 80 år sedan den första atombomben fälldes över Hiroshima. Om vad det innebar då och därefter sammanfattar ingen mindre än @atommarie.bsky.social i SVT. www.svt.se/kultur/var-u...
Reposted by Johan Östling
POSITION: Assistant Professor in Global History of Knowledge, Lund University
Lund University is looking for a promising, academically young, researcher with an international background who can build and lead a research group within the field of Global History of Knowledge.
Lund University is looking for a promising, academically young, researcher with an international background who can build and lead a research group within the field of Global History of Knowledge.
June 17, 2025 at 7:13 AM
POSITION: Assistant Professor in Global History of Knowledge, Lund University
Lund University is looking for a promising, academically young, researcher with an international background who can build and lead a research group within the field of Global History of Knowledge.
Lund University is looking for a promising, academically young, researcher with an international background who can build and lead a research group within the field of Global History of Knowledge.
För andra året anordnas sakprosafestivalen Sakli(g)t utanför Simrishamn. Liksom i fjol med ett rikt program under tre dagar. Gårdagen var bitvis varm innanför höbalarna men samtalen – om bl.a. subjektets plats i sakprosan, sakprosan på dagens bokmarknad och sakprosakritiken – håll hög kvalitet.
August 2, 2025 at 8:49 AM
För andra året anordnas sakprosafestivalen Sakli(g)t utanför Simrishamn. Liksom i fjol med ett rikt program under tre dagar. Gårdagen var bitvis varm innanför höbalarna men samtalen – om bl.a. subjektets plats i sakprosan, sakprosan på dagens bokmarknad och sakprosakritiken – håll hög kvalitet.
Åren omkring 1990 reformerades den svenska högskolan i grunden när nya ideal om frihet, mångfald och konkurrenskraft bröt igenom. Vad blev det av dessa ljuva drömmar? I en uppskattande och initierade recension av Johanna Ringarps viktiga bok i ämnet diskuterar Mats Benner denna omvälvning.
July 5, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Åren omkring 1990 reformerades den svenska högskolan i grunden när nya ideal om frihet, mångfald och konkurrenskraft bröt igenom. Vad blev det av dessa ljuva drömmar? I en uppskattande och initierade recension av Johanna Ringarps viktiga bok i ämnet diskuterar Mats Benner denna omvälvning.