MUSLIMS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY (OUR COMMON HISTORY – THROUGH THE PRISM OF HISTORY TEXTBOOKS)
Marat Mingalievich Gibatdinov,
the Institute of History, Tatarstan Academy of Sciences,
entrance 5, Kremlin, Kazan, Russia, 420014,
marmingi@mail.ru
The paper presents the results of the collaborative research pursued by an international group of scholars under the aegis of European Science Foundation and Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research. The results of cross-reference analysis of the images of Islam and Muslims in European and Russian History textbooks show the neglect of Muslims presence in European history. However, these neglected parts of our common history can become a good ground for the intercultural and interfaith dialogue and can promote mutual understanding on the basis of shared history and memory. Disregard for those leads to misunderstanding of the past and creates obstacles to the construction of a peaceful and respectful future for Europe as a multicultural society. The results of the research can be used in textbooks and teaching materials development for multicultural education in Europe and Russia.
Key words: history teaching, European history, image of Muslims, history textbooks, multicultural society.
