Twitter Conference

We hosted a conference entirely on Twitter!

On 28 September 2018 we held out first Twitter conference, which included twenty-five papers from around the world. We are indebted to the Underpinnings Museum for the inspiration, and also for giving us some extremely useful advice. Thank you to everyone who gave a paper, asked a question, or just followed along!

Note: due to the large number of tweets on this page it often takes a few minutes for it to fully load.

We began the day by giving an introductory paper that discussed what War Through Other Stuff actually refers to, which included introducing our new mission statement.

Our next paper was from Hattie Hearn, a first year PhD at the University of East Anglia, entitled ‘Painting Little America: The role of wall art at American air bases in East Anglia during the Second World War’

We then heard from Tim Peacock, a lecturer in History at the University of Glasgow. His paper was called ‘Toys & Troop Tins: Japanese Toymakers in the postwar American Occupation.’

Next up was Rachel Caines, an MPhil candidate at the University of Adelaide. Her paper was entitled ‘Commemorating Indigenous Anzacs in Australia & New Zealand.’

The final speaker in our first session was Emma Butcher, a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at the University of Leicester, who spoke on ‘A History of War Through Children’s Eyes’.

Following a brief break to allow for questions, we welcomed Isobel Clarke, a PhD student at the Royal College of Music London. She spoke on ‘The contribution of European emigre musicians to the developing Early Music movement in the UK (1939-1973).’

Next up was Rhona Ramsay, a PhD student at the University of Stirling, whose paper looked at ‘War & its cultural impact on Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland.’

We then heard from Tim Galsworthy, a first-year PhD student at Sussex University, who spoke about ‘Refighting the Battle of Gettysburg: Civil War memory, civil rights, and political rhetoric.’

It was then Rachel Pistol’s turn, who is a research associate at Kings College London. Her paper was entitled ‘WW2 internment art in Great Britain.’

Next was Holly Furneaux, who dusted off her Twitter account just for us! She is a Professor of English at Cardiff University and she spoke about ‘Enemy exchanges: The truces of Mafeking.’

The final paper in our second session was from Louise Heren, on ‘What Nanny saw in the Great War.’ She is a final year PhD at the University of St Andrews and a history documentary producer.

The first paper in our third session came from Pip Gregory, who completed her PhD on visual representations of wartime humour & their lasting impact & memory in 2017. Her paper was on ‘Learning from Wartime Cartoon Characters.’

We then had Chris Kempshall speaking on ‘Star Wars on Terror.’ Chris is a historian of First World Entente relations, #FWW computer games, and Star Wars.

Next up was Shirley Wajda, who is currently a curator and holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Her paper was called ‘Rolling Reliquaries: American Liberty Loan Trophy Trains in World War I, 1918-1919.’

We then had the first of two joint papers, when Kate Astbury and Devon Cox told us about ‘Prisoner-of-War theatre at Porchester Castle.’

Charlotte Tomlinson was next, who spoke on ‘Winning the War(drobe): Women’s responses to clothing policy and propaganda in Second World War Britain.’ She is a PhD student at the University of Leeds.

The final paper in this session was by Louise Bell, an independent researcher who spent two years as the Diverse Histories Researcher at the UK National Archives. Her paper was on ‘Diamond Cutting & Disabled Ex-Servicemen? A unique form of rehab in WW1.’

The first paper of our final panel was Emily Kambic from the US Battlefield Protection Program, who spoke on ‘Wars Happen in Places: Understanding & Preserving Military Landscapes.’

Our next paper was from Sarah Dixon Smith and Shruti Turner, on ‘Blast Injury and Rehab.’ They are both PhD students at Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London.

This was followed by Alexandra Thelin Blackowski, talking about ‘Zesty Zouaves: Uniform elements becoming fashionable in the mid-nineteenth century.’ She is a PhD student in history and culture at Drew University.

Next up was Corporal Cushing, who has degrees in Intel. Ops Studies and Medieval Studies, and is a 3-tour combat veteran. Her paper was called ‘How medieval marsh-moss made the modern baltic states.’

Alex Souchen next spoke to us about ‘The Surprising History of War Junk.’ He is a former postdoc at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies and earned his PhD in history in 2016.

Rounding out our final panel was Katrina Pasierbek, a second year PhD student at Laurier University. Her paper title was ‘Standing in the Heart of the Empire, and in a Corner of Canada: Sir Edwin Lutyens’s Cenotaph and Commemorative Efforts in Canada’s London.’

Finally, we welcomed our new advisor Catherine Baker, who provided some closing remarks to help begin to summarise of the amazing research that was shared over the day!

We also received some really amazing feedback about the Twitter conference. We would highly recommend it as a format and would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have!

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