Prof. Joris van Eijnatten (professor of Cultural History) has received a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research NWO to start a new open access journal: the International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity. The first issue will be published online in 2013 by Amsterdam University Press.
The International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity is a peer-reviewed journal that offers a forum for interdisciplinary scholarship in the domain of the humanities. Its aim is to stimulate research and a lively academic exchange in the field of the cultural history of global modernity.
Modernity as concept, problem, and period
The journal conceives ‘modernity’ as a concept, as a problem, and as a period. The concept is rooted historically in the Enlightenment and its alter ego Romanticism, and thus involves, on the most abstract level, contested concepts like universalism, cosmopolitanism, authenticity, progress, individuality, equality, reason, identity, aesthetics and religion. Modernity as a topical problem entails a critical discussion of its origins, trajectory, variations and perceived decline, from a global perspective. As a period, modernity essentially but not inevitably covers the years between 1750 and the present.
Contribution to present-day debates
Modernity is the world in which we live and one we have to cope with; at the same time, it is a contested concept and a serious practical effort. This means that the concepts and theories that deal with modernity are not free floating intellectual artefacts: they confront real situations and actual dilemmas. Within this general framework, the journal will consider scholarly contributions that relate topics in cultural history to the wider context of modernity. The journal welcomes new and critical historical approaches, especially those contributing to present-day debates and facilitating a global perspective.
Editorial board
The editorial board consists of experienced scholars active in this broad domain. Four cultural historians working at Utrecht University will act in concert as the journal’s ‘managing’ or ‘acting’ editor. Apart from Prof. Joris van Eijnatten, these are Prof. Ed Jonker, Dr Willemijn Ruberg and Dr Joes Segal.
Open Access incentive
The NWO grant is awarded within the Grants Incentive Fund Open Access. It is intended to support the first three years of new Open Access journals.