The Conflict and Society Research Group brings together expertise in the history and literary representation of conflict from 1500 to the modern day. The group connects the research interests of eighteen Northumbria humanities scholars and a large group of postgraduate students making for a lively, and growing, research community.
Our research examines ‘conflict’ in its broadest sense, spanning not only international warfare but also revolutions and political, religious and civil unrest. Members are also actively engaged in understanding the many ways in which the past informs the present.
Key themes and topics include:
- nationalism and loyalism
- civilian experiences of conflict
- prisoners of war
- race, gender and religious identities
- peace movements and anti-war protest
- refugees and exiles during wartime
- cultural exchange and conflict
- propaganda, journalism and censorship
- literary and cultural representation of conflict
- memory and memorialisation
- genocide and the Holocaust
In recent years, the group has published major books on masculinity and warfare, the Tudor occupation of Boulogne, the history of the Holocaust, and the cultural history of Ulster Protestantism. The work of group members has also recently appeared in outstanding international journals, such as Past & Present, the English Historical Review, Literature & History, and the Journal of British Studies.
Group members have led several funded projects regarding the First World War and its aftermath: these include the AHRC funded ‘Dominion Geordies in World War One’ and ‘British Ex-Service Students and the Rebuilding of Europe, 1918–1926’ which was conducted in partnership with the National Union of Students and Workers’ Educational Association and was also funded by the AHRC. Moreover, Northumbria historians have organised a series of events on different aspects of conflicts. Recent examples include ‘Wild War One’ (a public symposium on the First World War and the environment) and ‘Objects in and after Conflict’ (a two-day conference organised by the group’s postgraduate members funded by the AHRC and the Royal Historical Society). In November 2019, members of the research group organised an exhibition on Living Legacies of the First World War at the University Gallery.
Please contact the current group convenor, Dr Dominic Williams, if you have any further questions about the group, its research or activities.
Membership
Prof Charlotte Alston
Dr Jennifer Aston
Dr Waitman Beorn
Dr Carlos Conde Solares
Dr Lara Douds
Dr Ann-Marie Einhaus
Dr Hilary Francis
Prof David Gleeson
Dr Joseph Hardwick
Prof Matthew Kelly
Dr Daniel Laqua
Dr James McConnel
Prof Neil Murphy
Dr Connal Parr
Dr Linsey Robb
Dr Leona Skelton
Dr Dominic Williams
Prof Julian Wright
PGR students
Adam Drake
Struan Kennedy
Lewis Kimberley
Lisa Peatfield
Shaun Pitt
James Robertson-Major
Drew Ryder
Damian Shiels
Luke Usher
