Monthly Archives: June 2015

Women & the First World War (1910-1930) – Call for Papers

25 June, 2015Events, UncategorizedArchives, Creative Arts, Drama, English, Heritage, Historical Geography, Literature, Living Legacies, Research, SeminarEmma

17 September 2015 @ Newcastle University

Keynote Address: Professor Alison Fell (Leeds), ‘Back to the Front: French and British Female Veteran Groups in the 1920s’

This interdisciplinary symposium will showcase research on any aspect of women’s history in relation to the First World War. We welcome papers on the role and place of girls and women both during the war and also in the years leading up to the outbreak of hostilities and in the decade after. For example, how did literature for girls before the war prepare children for war? How were women involved in pacifist groups? What kinds of work did women do during the war? How were women and girls involved in memorialisation activities? What is the relationship between spiritualism, war and gender politics? Do new transnational paradigms complicate our understanding of women and war? What role did women play in journalism during the war? These are indicative questions only – the symposium is intended to share and develop research on women and the First World War. Papers from a range of fields – including Literature, History, Archaeology, Geography, Politics, Film and Media, Modern Languages, History of Medicine, and Law – are encouraged.

Please send abstracts of 150 words for 20-minute papers to fww@ncl.ac.uk by 15 July 2015.

This event is supported by the North East Research Forum for First World War Studies, the Living Legacies 1914-18 Engagement Centre, the Gender Research Group (Newcastle) and the Military, War & Security Research Group (Newcastle).

Conference Organisers: Stacy Gillis & Emma Short

Download a PDF version of the Call for Papers here.

Universities at War – Lottery grant awarded to mark First World War Centenary

24 June, 2015Events, UncategorizedArchives, HLF Projects, Library, North East, ResearchEmma

A new project to tell the lost stories of Newcastle and Durham University staff and students who fell during the First World War has been awarded £7,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Both universities invite anyone interested in learning more about the project to an open event at Newcastle University’s Robinson Library at 6pm on 25 June.

The Universities have received the Lottery grant for their project ‘Universities at War: Chronicling the Fallen of Newcastle and Durham Universities (1914 – 1918)’. Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme, the project focuses on expanding on the work of staff and students from both universities to tell the stories of their fallen alumni by working with volunteers across the region and beyond.

With help from heritage professionals, the information gathered by volunteers will be digitally recorded in an online memory book which everyone can access and contribute to. Research into these important stories will be promoted through public events and an exhibition in 2017 showcasing the work of the volunteers. Both Universities will also work with local schools to help young people understand the local impact of the conflict and develop the skills to research their own memorials.

Commenting on the award, Newcastle University Archivist Ian Johnson said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund to engage the public in the important aim to make these fallen more than just names on a memorial. As many of these fallen were local and the commemorations have sparked everyone’s interest nationally, we know the experts are in our communities and we want them to get in touch to make this a success through credited contributions.”

Ivor Crowther, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North East, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. In this Centenary year we’re pleased to fund this project which will provide a truly personal link to the conflict and ensure the stories of Durham and Newcastle alumni are heard and remembered.”

The work done so far is available to view at http://memorial.ncl.ac.uk/ and https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/asc/roll/. Volunteers are also welcome to get in touch through contact details available on these sites.

Image: Durham University Officers’ Training Corps, Stobs camp, 1914, Durham University Library Special Collections, Ref: MIA 1/307.

Your Community in the First World War: A Roadshow

17 June, 2015UncategorizedEmma

8 September 2015 @ the Imperial War Museum North, Manchester

9 September 2015 @ the City Museum, Leeds

10 September 2015 @ Newcastle University

How did the First World War affect your community? Do you know where the people named on your war memorial fought and died? What was life like for those who went away to fight? What happened to those who stayed at home? Did the First World War change things for women? Industry? Social welfare? What was its global impact and how did colonial troops experience it?

We invite you to explore your community’s connection with the First World War and meet up with others already doing so. These three events, in Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle, will bring together community groups and other organisations who are working on projects around the heritage of the First World War, or who are interested in developing such a project. There will be an opportunity to share experiences, explore possible sources of funding (especially the Heritage Lottery Fund), exchange ideas, and learn about free support and resources, including how and where you can showcase your findings online.

This roadshow is co-hosted by the five First World War engagement centres funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Each centre represents a network of academic support and has various areas of expertise regarding First World War research. You can access their support when developing your own projects. For further information on these centres see here: http://ww1engage.org.uk

At each event we will also be offering an opportunity to learn how to digitise, record and preserve your community’s stories and memorabilia. The availability of this opportunity will be based on demand, so if you are interested in taking part in this digitisation workshop, please register for this when booking the event. You will be asked to submit a short statement of what materials (photographs, letters, diaries etc.) you would like to have digitised and how it would benefit you and/or your community group.

Places at these events are free, but limited, so book early to ensure a place.
Go to: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/first-world-war-engagement-centres-8220847914

For more information or to book a place on a digitisation workshop after booking an event contact Dr Sam Carroll, Community Heritage Researcher, Gateways to the First World War. Email: S.J.Carroll@kent.ac.uk

New Perspectives on the First World War and Its Legacies

9 June, 2015UncategorizedEmma

Thursday 18 June 2015, 12pm-4.30pm @ The Birley Room, Hatfield College, North Bailey, Durham DH1 3RQ.

A one-day workshop, hosted by the Department of History at Durham University, to showcase current research in First World War Studies undertaken in the North East. This is the second event of the newly established North East Research Forum for First World War Studies. The programme and registration details for this event can be found here.