Symposium: Social & Cultural Experience of WWI

The Social and Cultural Experience of World War I : Symposium at the University of Melbourne, 11 May 2016

The photographs, writings and ephemera assembled in the exhibition Somewhere in France: Australians on the Western Front reveal individual connections and personal experiences of individuals on the Western Front. These glimpses convey the diverse motivations and interests of those engaged in the war, and hint at the changes that war made on individuals and society more generally. They help to reposition the discussion of the First War away from familiar, desultory scenes of trench warfare, and allow new analysis of the war as an experience lived by individuals.

This symposium draws together new work on the Great War to discuss what the war tells us about the social and cultural experience of living during these years, and their legacies for the universities and the professions.

Speakers:

• Dr Heather Benbow, School of Languages and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Rhys Cooper, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts,
• Professor Kate Darian-Smith, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning,
• Xavier Fowler, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts,
• Ms Jenny Long, Curator, Somewhere in France: Australians on the Western Front,
• Dr Carolyn Rassmussen, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow,
• Dr James Waghorne, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education,
• Professor Julie Willis (Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research Capability), Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

Presented by:

• Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts
• Noel Shaw Gallery, University Library.

This event forms part of the Somewhere in France: Australians on the Western Front exhibition in the Noel Shaw Gallery, Baillieu Library and is associated with ARC DP 160101109: Beyond1914: Knowledge, War, Peace and Nation.

Register online at: http://library.unimelb.edu.au/france