Never Forget

All welcome to the first seminar in the Sadler series ‘The War Veteran in Culture and Society’

The cultural memories of war are formed in memorials, public artwork, life-writing and commemorative events. What is the role of the veteran in shaping public memory of war?

In addition to launching the seminar series with short introductions from the convenors and Alison Fell, Direcor of the Leeds Humanities Research Institute,  this first event will bring together academics, writers and museum curators to discuss remembrance and specifically the role of the veteran (and families) in shaping the cultural memories of war, including how some voices have been silenced.

We are delighted to welcome three invited speakers to join us for our discussion: Lucy Moore, Projects Curator for the First World War at Leeds Museums and Galleries; Rob Page, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and researches commemoration of the First World War for his PhD; and Helen Parr, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Keele University and author of Our Boys: The Story of a Paratrooper (Allen Lane, 2018).

Each speaker will give a short presentation with lots of time for discussion. Tea/coffee and biscuits will also be available during a break.

Any email inquiries about this event should be directed to Katy Parry k.j.parry@leeds.ac.uk

Convenors:

Titles and abstracts from our speakers:

Lucy Moore: Not just men in trenches’: commemorating WW1 at Leeds Museums & Galleries

Leeds Museums & Galleries is the UK’s largest local authority museum service, since 2013 the service has been working on projects to commemorate the role of the city and its citizens in the First World War. Working with young people and communities were basic goals of the project, to explore a wide range of perspectives from a local to a global lens.

Rob Page: Not In My Name: The Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial 2017

This paper examines representation of contemporary conflict through the tension of inclusion and exceptionalism of veteran experiences in the Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial (2017) at Embankment Gardens.

Helen Parr: Remembering the 1982 Falklands war in Britain

The Falklands war was a transforming episode in the remembrance of British wars: talked of at the time as a national war, but fought by a professional military. The repatriation of bodies from the combat zone for the first time in British military history marked a change in the relationships between army and society. This talk discusses some of the implications of these shifts.