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.