Hanna Smyth, who is completing her DPhil on the relationship between Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites and identity, recently contributed to Kings College London’s blog Defence-in-Depth, Research from the Defence Studies Department. Her blog, ‘Identities set in Stone? The Delville Wood and Vimy Memorials as Sites of Hybridity’, can be accessed here.
Tag Archives: Great War
New blog for Oxford’s WWI Centenary ‘Continuations and Beginnings’ website
Hanna Smyth, who is completing her DPhil on the relationship between Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites and identity, recently contributed to the University of Oxford’s WWI Centenary ‘Continuations and Beginnings’ website. Her blog, WWI Memorials of the British Empire: Identity and Memory on the Western Front, can be accessed here.
CfP: The Myriad Faces of War: 1917 and its Legacy
The Myriad Faces of War: 1917 and its Legacy Symposium
25-28 April 2017
At Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
The organizing partners are excited to send out this call for papers inviting submissions to this unique international, multidisciplinary symposium showcasing academic and creative work on the year 1917 and its myriad legacies.
The concept behind the symposium is that key events of 1917 not only influenced the outcome of World War I but continue to be felt today in political, social, cultural, economic, and technological spheres. Using 1917 as a focal point, the Myriad faces symposium will expand outwards to reflect on the significant impact of the Great War and the wider role of war – and peace – in the past and present.
For more information go to: http://myriadfaces.org
Call for papers deadline: 1 July 2016
Keynote speakers:
The symposium has drawn together leading international scholars including:
Professor Annette Becker (Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense)
Piet Chielens (In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres)
Dr Santanu Das (King’s College London)
Dr Jock Phillips
Professor Michael Neiberg (U.S. Army War College)
Dr. Gorch Pieken (Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr)
Dr Galina Rylkova (University of Florida)
Professor Peter Stanley (University of New South Wales)
Professor Jay Winter (Yale University)
The Myriad Faces of War: 1917 and its Legacy symposium is organised by:
WHAM (War History Heritage Art and Memory) Research Network
Massey University Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira
The University of Auckland Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau
The symposium is supported by Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
CfP: Writing 1914-1918. National Responses to the Great War
Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature
Special Issue: “Writing 1914-1918. National Responses to the Great War”
Summer 2017
Edited by Toby Garfitt (University of Oxford)
& Nicolas Bianchi (Université Montpellier-III / Universiteit Gent)
With the outbreak of the First World War and the uncovering of modern, dehumanized violence, many direct witnesses faced a double crisis when they tried to share their personal experience. The discovery of physical violence led above all to a crisis of representation, due to the inability of the traditional depictions of war to convey the nature of modern warfare. But there was also a crisis of language, caused by the perverted use of the standardized language to justify the war through political and journalistic lies and heroic descriptions of the events. Despite all this, much material was produced, representing most of the countries that were involved, directly or not, in the war. Letters, diaries, novels, poems, war reportages were written and published in abundance, from the beginning of the war until the end of the 1930s, and some of them achieved immediate and considerable success.
While a substantial number of studies focus fairly narrowly on these works in order to explore how and why they managed to cope with both crises, there have been comparatively few attempts to take a more global approach. Some literary productions from that time are well known, but this is often due to the particular experience of an author rather than to the broader national climate of the country concerned. One of the main goals of this STTCL special issue will be to offer a global perspective in order to locate a number of works from the period within the specific framework of their national production. Because of the way the mother tongue of the authors naturally influenced their way of thinking and because of the rise of nationalisms at the beginning of the century, each author was faced with either embracing or rejecting a national climate. Our work will use this reflection on national responses to the Great War to shed light on some forgotten texts of the period which bring an original response to the challenges of the war, in relation to the canon. Widening the approach to include all the relevant languages will allow a comparison between some of the essential themes present in the texts.
Articles must be written in English and should not exceed 7,500 words in length. We will particularly appreciate articles including examples of French, German and Spanish texts, which are the main interest of the review. Authors must provide a 500-word abstract along with a brief CV, complete contact details, and academic affiliation. The deadline for the submission of your proposal is set on May 15, 2016.
Further information: Dernière version appel STTCL (mars)
Conference: The Great War in the Middle East 1911-1923
Registration is now open for the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the University of Oxford conference ‘The Great War in the Middle East 1911-1923’.
If you would like to attend the event on Friday 22 April at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, please email ruth.murray@pmb.ox.ac.uk by 11 April 2016. A confirmation email will sent on Thursday 14 April to attendees.
Poster for Friday 22 April event: WW1Middle East 22 April 2016
Vacancy: Research Associate (The First World War and Global Religions: Islam)
History Faculty, George Street, Oxford
Grade 7: £30,738 p.a.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the first major research project investigating the role of religion during the First World War. The AHRC-funded project is based at the History Faculty, and will build on Oxford’s ‘Globalizing and Localizing the Great War’ research network. The project team will work together to produce a genuinely transnational history of religion, incorporating both the impact of the war on religious ideas and a consideration of how the war influenced (and was influenced by) the beliefs and practices of millions of people from a range of religious traditions.
We are seeking a talented and enthusiastic individual to carry out research on some aspect of Islam in the era of the Great War; s/he will also publish and publicise the work, provide guidance to junior members of the group and work with the group to disseminate the findings within and beyond academia.
The appointee will hold a relevant doctorate, or show evidence that a doctorate is imminently expected, and have excellent oral and written communication skills, including fluency in relevant languages; experience of successful academic collaborations would be an advantage.
The appointment is fixed-term for 3 years, with a flexible start date (to fall between April and October 2016). This post will report to Dr Faisal Devji: for an informal discussion about the role, please email: faisal.devji@history.ox.ac.uk.
To apply for this role and for further details, including the job description and selection criteria, please see here.
The deadline for applications is 12.00 noon on Wednesday 16 March 2016.
Conference: The Great War in the Middle East 1911-1923, 20-21 April 2016
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
This major international conference, organised jointly by the War Studies Department of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Changing Character of War Programme at the University of Oxford, will re-examine the origins, conduct and consequences of the First World War in the Middle East. The voluminous historiography of the conflict remains, however, focused on the European experience of 1914-18. This conference brings together historians of the Middle East and the First World War to discuss this formative event and to relate the Great War to the broader period of conflict that affected the Ottoman Empire from 1911 to 1923.
The fee for attending the conference is £200; accommodation and dinners can also be booked as optional extras. If you wish to attend please email Dr James Kitchen for a copy of the conference information pack, booking form and the security form: james.kitchen101@mod.uk
Further information and programme: GWME Advert