The National World War I Museum, Kansas, USA is to host an “international centennial planning conference”, from 22nd – 24th March 2013.
The conference – ‘A Century in the Shadow of the Great War’ – will involve more than 125 participants from seven countries.
Centenary News’ Editor will be attending the conference.
A National World War I Museum press release stated that the conference “will provide a unique opportunity for participants to conduct preliminary discussions, formulate plans and develop collaborative initiatives for the international commemoration of the 100th anniversary of World War I”.
Dr. Mary Davidson Cohen, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National World War I Museum expressed her hope that “the ideas shared and relationships formed this weekend will help lay the groundwork for many exciting plans to commemorate the 20th century’s first global conflict”.
The conference will include a variety of representatives, including “government officials, representatives of consular offices, scholars, museum professionals and heritage specialists from around the world”.
Organisations such as the Imperial War Museum, Belgian Foreign Ministry, National Air & Space Museum and Australian National University will also be represented at the conference, alongside other organisations.
Speakers at the conference include:
Annette Becker – National Order of the Legion of Honour, Professor of Contemporary History at Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense and a senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France.
Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius – specialises in modern German history, with a particular focus on German relations with Eastern Europe. Completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Peace, and Revolution.
Michael S. Neiberg – Professor of History in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Sophie De Schaepdrijver – Associate Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on a half-forgotten “front” of this war – the military occupations of 1914-1918 and their impact on both occupied and occupiers
Centenary News’ Editor will be reporting on the conference as it progresses.
Images courtesy of the World War I National Museum website.
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News