Dr. H.J. (Herman) Paul

Function:
  • Lecturer in historical theory
Expertise:
  • Philosophy of history
  • Historiography
  • Religious history

Telephone number: +31 (0)71 527 2757
E-Mail: h.j.paul@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department: Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Institute for History, Algemene Geschiedenis
Office Address: Johan Huizingagebouw
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden
Room number 202B
 

Spreekuur / Hours
Maandag 11.00 - 12.00 / Monday 11am - 12am
Fields of interest
  • Philosophy of history
  • Historiography
  • Modern intellectual history
  • Religious history
Curriculum vitae
Herman Paul teaches historiography and historical theory at Leiden University. He is also a postdoctoral researcher in modern intellectual history at the University of Groningen. A graduate in history and philosophy from Groningen, he received his Ph.D. (“cum laude”) from the same university in 2006.

A book version of his doctoral dissertation, on Hayden White’s philosophy of history, is in preparation. Research for a second book, tentatively titled In Fear of History: Religious Anti-Historicism in Western Europe, 1870-1970, was supported by a fellowship from the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton in 2006-2007.

His current courses include Inleiding in de Geschiedwetenschap (Introduction to Historical Studies), Wijsbegeerte (Philosophy of History) and the MPhil seminar Historical Methodology.
Publications (selection)
a) Philosophy of history

“Hayden White and the Crisis of Historicism,” forthcoming.

“A Weberian Medievalist: Hayden White in the 1950s,” Rethinking History 12 (2008), forthcoming.

“Against Reductionism: Toward an Empirical Philosophy of History” [in Norwegian], in Historie, fantasi og fortelling, ed. Unn Irene Aasdalen and Else Marie Lingaas ( Helsinki: NSU Press, forthcoming in 2008).

“Tegen zure regen: Hayden White, anti-ironisme en existentialistisch humanisme,” Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 120 (2007), 74-84.

“An Ironic Battle Against Irony: Epistemological and Ideological Irony in Hayden White’s Philosophy of History, 1955-1973,” in Tropes for the Past: Hayden White and the History/Literature Debate, ed. Kuisma Korhonen (Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi, 2006), 35-44.

“Metahistorical Prefigurations: Toward a Reinterpretation of Tropology in Hayden White,” Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology 1 no. 2 (2004), 1-19.

b) Religious history

The Modern Calvin: Collective Memories of a Genevan Reformer, 1800-2000, co-edited with Johan de Niet and Bart Wallet (Leiden; Boston: Brill, forthcoming in 2008).

Het gereformeerde geheugen: protestantse herinneringsculturen in Nederland, 1850-2000, co-edited with George Harinck and Bart Wallet (Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, forthcoming in 2008).

“Religious Discourse Communities: Confessional Differentiation in Nineteenth-Century Dutch Protestantism,” Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte 101 (2007), forthcoming.

De Reformatie-herdenking van 1917: historische beeldvorming en religieuze identiteitspolitiek in Nederland, co-edited with Bart Wallet and George Harinck (Zoetermeer: Meinema, 2004).

“Leescultuur op Goeree-Overflakkee in de negentiende eeuw,” De Negen­tiende Eeuw 24 (2000), 98-121.