Workshop in London: Student Contributions to Peace, Refugee Aid and Anti-Racism

How have student activists sought to promote peace and reconciliation? How have they challenged racism? And what efforts did they launch to support refugees? This event brings together academics and activists to investigate the lessons of the past and the challenges of the present.

The workshop will take place at Macadam House, the London office of the National Union of Students (NUS). It is based on a project involving the NUS and researchers from University College London (UCL) and Northumbria University. At the event, there will be contributions from student campaigners and NUS representatives who will share their experiences, while the historians Jodi Burkett, Georgina Brewis, and Daniel Laqua will speak about past examples of student activism.

The workshop will take place on Friday 24 November, from 12:00 noon until 4:30 pm. It will begin with a light lunch and the opportunity to view a pop-up exhibition on students' experiences and activities after the First World War. The main part of the event will consist of sessions on peacebuilding, refugee relief, and anti-racism. Each session will comprise short presentations and a discussion with the audience. Together, we will reflect on the obstacles that campaigners have faced both in the past and present.

The event is free, but for planning purposes, we’d like everyone to sign up via our Evenbrite site by 21 November. For any questions about the event, feel free to contact Georgina Brewis (g.brewis@ucl.ac.uk) or Daniel Laqua (daniel.laqua@northumbria.ac.uk).

12h00	Registration, light lunch and exhibition
13h00	Opening Welcome from the organisers Student activism today: ‘The NUS and its Work for Peace, Refugee Aid and Anti-Racism’ (Izzy Lenga, NUS) Discussion with the workshop participants
13h45	Session on Peacebuilding Historical case study: ‘International student activism in the era of the two world wars’ (Daniel Laqua, Northumbria University) Discussion with the workshop participants about contemporary implications
14h25	Tea and coffee break
14h40	Session on Refugee Aid Historical case study: ‘Student solidarity across borders: Students in Britain and Refugee Crises, 1933–1973’ (Georgina Brewis, UCL Institute of Education) Discussion with workshop participants about contemporary implications
15h20	Tea and coffee break
15h40	Session on Anti-Racism  Historical case study:  ‘Protesting at the poly: Portsmouth student anti-racist activism in the 1970s and 1980s’ (Jodi Burkett, Portsmouth University) Discussion with workshop participants about contemporary implications
16h20	Conclusion (Sarah Lloyd, University of Hertfordshire; Mark Freeman, UCL Institute of Education)

 

Event and Exhibition on Students and Activism after the First World War

On Saturday, 7 October, the Lit & Phil in Newcastle upon Tyne was the site of talks and an exhibition on 'Impacts of the First World War on Adult and Higher Education: The North East, the  UK and the Making of Post-War Europe'. The event formed part of the project 'British Ex-Service Students and the Rebuilding of Europe, 1918-1926', which is a collaborative venture, involving academics from Northumbria University and the UCL Institute of Education as well as staff from the National Union of Students (NUS) and the North East branch of the Workers' Educational Association (WEA).

Mike Day (NUS) and Georgina Brewis (UCL) discussing the project's pop-up exhibition.

Daniel Laqua (Northumbria University) speaking to Tomás Irish (Swansea University) before the latter's talk on British universities and the Great War

Sarah Hellawell (Northumbria University) presenting initial project findings on university students in the North East

 Jude Murphy (WEA) on activism within the Workers' Educational Association

Nigel Todd (WEA) on controversies within the Workers' Educational Association, both during and after the First World War

Georgina Brewis (UCL) and Mike Day (NUS) concluding the afternoon's proceedings

Impacts of the First World War on Adult and Higher Education: The North East, the UK and the Making of Post-War Europe

On 7 October, we are hosting free public event, tracing the impacts of the First World War on adult and higher education. We will focus on developments in the North East (Newcastle and Durham) while placing them within their wider national and international contexts. The event forms part of the project 'British Ex-Service Students and the Re-Building of Europe, 1919-1926', which is led by Daniel Laqua (Northumbria University) and Georgina Brewis (UCL Institute of Education) and run in partnership with National Union of Students (Mike Day, NUS Director of Devolved Nations and Internationalism) and the Workers' Educational Association (Jude Murphy, WEA North East). The project is funded by the AHRC World War One Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire.

The event will feature three presentations, each of them 15-20 mins long and followed by Q&A with the audience:

• Dr Tomás Irish (Lecturer in Modern History at Swansea University) - Between the National and the International: British Universities at War, 1914-1925

• Dr Sarah Hellawell (Research Associate, project 'British Ex-Service Students and the Re-Building of Europe, 1918-1926') - Students in North East England and the Promotion of an International Community

• Dr Jude Murphy (organiser, HLF project 'Educational Campaigns within the WEA and Affiliated Organisations, 1918-1928') - 'The World Is Plastic Now': Stories of Post-War Reconstruction and Reconciliation in North East Adult Education

In addition to these talks, there will be a pop-up exhibition and a general introduction to the project.

The event will start at 2:30 pm on Saturday 7 October. The venue is the Lit & Phil in Newcastle upon Tyne, and you can register for your free place via the following link.

'50 Years of Activism': day school in collaboration with North East Labour History Society

Venue: Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne

9:30am to 4:30pm, Saturday 16 September 2017

A collaboration between the Histories of Activism Group at Northumbria University and the North East Labour History Society.

This day school will reflect on the last fifty years in the North East, and especially the great changes that have occurred in politics, culture and society.
The workshops will focus on specific subjects such as Labour Activism and Music and we believe it will revive the spirit of the History Workshop conferences. The backgrounds of the participants will be mixed, including academics presenting their research, as well as activists and historians working outside of a formal academic framework.
To book your place in this Day School, please let us know at moderator@nelh.net. Attendance is free, and coffee and lunch will be provided.

Updates and new information will be posted on our day-school page: http://nelh.net/event/day-school-fifty-years-of-activism

Fifty Years of Activism

9:30 – 10:00 Coffee and Registration
10:00 – 11:00 Plenary, Keynote Speaker: John Charlton
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee
11:30 – 1:00 Three Parallel Workshops
Culture and Music: Workshop Leader, Dr Jude Murphy
Labour Activism: Workshop Leader, Ben Sellers
Women and the Women’s Movement: Workshop Leader, Dr Liz O’Donnell. During this session Dr Julie Scanlon will be talking about her research into the 1976 Women’s Liberation Conference held in Ponteland.
1:00 – 2:00 Lunch
2:00 – 3:00 Three Parallel Workshops
The Peace Movement: Workshop Leader, John Creaby
Politics: Workshop Leader, Nigel Todd
Cooperatives: Workshop Leader, Professor Tony Webster
3:00 – 4:00 Two Parallel Workshops
Trade Unions and the World of Work: Workshop Leader, John Stirling
Growth of Ethnic Diversity in the North East: Workshop Leader, Dr Avram Taylor
4:00 – 4:30 Plenary: Concluding Remarks: Dr Matt Perry

To book your place in this Day School, please let us know at moderator@nelh.net. Attendance is free, and coffee and lunch will be provided.

Histories of Activism lunchtime sessions on 2 May and 16 May

The 'Histories of Activism' research group at Northumbria University is pleased to announce two forthcoming lunchtime sessions. These are one-hour meetings, consisting of brief and relatively informal presentations, with plenty of scope for discussion. We’ve deliberately conceived these sessions as bringing together scholars from different disciplinary background.

These meetings are taking place at 12h30 pm at Northumbria University's Institute of the Humanities. For information on the venue and format, feel free to contact Daniel Laqua.

Histories of Activism Lunchtime Sessions

Tuesday 2 May

• Victoria Bazin (Senior Lecturer in American Literature) – ‘A Hidden Heritage: Women’s Activism and Feminist Periodical Culture’

• Sophie Roberts (PhD candidate in History) – ‘Margaret Stanton and the Birmingham Campaign for Peace in Vietnam: A Case Study in Local Activism’

Tuesday 16 May

• Paul Griffin (Lecturer in Geography)– ‘Clydeside’s Working-Class Presence: Political Identities and International Connections’ 

• Jasmine Calver (PhD candidate in History) – ‘French and Soviet Anti-Fascist Collaboration: A Case Study of the Visit of the Comité Mondial des Femmes contre la Guerre et le Fascime to the Soviet Union, 1935’