Researching War and Conflict through Ephemera
Project conference
This conference marked the end of the project ‘Ephemera and writing about war in Britain, 1914 to the present’, a 30-month collaborative research project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project runs from September 2021 to February 2024.
Our team of researchers is led by Dr Ann-Marie Einhaus (English Literature, Northumbria University), who is working alongside Prof. Tony Williams (Creative Writing, Northumbria University), May Sumbwanyambe (Creative Writing, Northumbria University), Prof. Catriona Pennell (History, University of Exeter), Dr Chris Kempshall (History, University of Exeter), and Dr Ann-Marie Foster (Robert Gordon University and IWM). In February 2024, we were also joined by an additional short-term Research Fellow, Dr Julia S. C. Ribeiro Thomaz.
Our Call for Papers invited proposals for papers on the role ephemera have played in research on any aspect of war, whether its history, political or psychological impact, or its representation in a range of arts and media. As part of the conference, we also launched one of our project publications, Fragments: An Anthology (digital version), which collects a selection of short creative pieces that engage with First World War-related ephemera.
Monday, 8 April 2024 (Sutherland Building, Great Hall)
17.00-17.30 | Arrival and drinks |
17.30-18.30 | Keynote 1: Samraghni Bonnerjee (Northumbria University) – ‘Colonial Debris, Postcolonial Ephemera’ (Chair: Guy Hinton, Newcastle University) |
18.30-19.30 | Finger food buffet and Fragments anthology launch |
Tuesday, 9 April 2024 (School of Business and Law, CCE1 003)
8.30-9.15 | Arrival and registration: Tea, coffee and breakfast provided |
9.15-9.30 | Welcome address |
9.30-10.30 | Keynote 2: Tom Smith (St Andrews University) – ‘“It Just Wasn’t an Issue Back Then”: Queer and Trans Traces in Ephemera from East Germany’s Cold War Military’ (Chair: Jonathan Long, University of Durham) |
10.30-11.00 | Coffee break |
11.00-12.30 | Panel session 1: Ephemeral Lenses on the First World War (Chair: Monika Smialkowska, Northumbria University) Barbara Klaus (Independent Scholar), ‘War & Communication: Austrian field post letters and postcards from the First World War’ Anna Branach-Kallas (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń), ‘Towards an Ethics of Incompletion: Ephemera in Didier Daeninckx’s Galadio and Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives’ Ann-Marie Foster (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen), ‘Ephemeral Ephemera – Disappeared ephemera and the First World War’ Geoff Cunnington (Independent Scholar), ‘Programmes and Postcards: The ephemera informing the visions and realities of the Royal Navy and its sailors at peace and in war 1913-1918’ |
12.30-13.30 | Lunch |
13.30-15.00 | Panel session 2: Ephemeral archives of conflict (Chair: Julia Ribeiro Thomaz, Northumbria University) Sarah Harper (National Museums Scotland / University of Stirling), ‘The Cold War in Scotland through Peace Ephemera’ Alexandra McKinnon (Independent Scholar), ‘Impressions of Empire: Autograph books as a historical source, 1899 to 1919’ Michael Reeve (The Open University), ‘Just odds and “fag ends” or “almost a necessary”? The utility of ephemera to the study of wartime smoking, military welfare and medicine in nineteenth- and twentieth-century conflicts’ James McConnel (Northumbria University), ‘The Role of Ephemera in Pro-War Irish Nationalist Propaganda: The Story of the 1706 Flag of Ramillies and the Irish Dames of Ypres, 1914’ |
15.00-15.30 | Coffee break |
15.30-16.30 | Keynote 3: Susan Grayzel (Utah State University) – ‘Hiding in Plain Sight: Engaging with the Ephemera of Twentieth-Century War’ (Chair: Andrew Frayn, Edinburgh Napier University) |
16.30-16.45 | Closing remarks |
16.45-18.00 | Networking time with coffee |