'Researching International History' Workshop: Programme Announced

The Scottish Graduate School for the Arts and Humanities, the British International History Group, the Practice of International History in the 21^st Century Network, and in conjunction with the Centre for the Study of Modern Conflict at the University of Edinburgh, is pleased to announce an interdisciplinary workshop on Researching International History.  This two-day event will give participants the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of a panel of international experts in the field of international history, and to receive critical feedback on their own projects.

List of keynote speakers

• Dr Patrick Finney (University of Aberystwyth),  ‘Predictions, Balance Sheets and Prospects: The Future of International History’.
• Professor Evan Mawdsley (University of Glasgow), ‘Grand Strategy as International History’
• Professor Peter Jackson (University of Glasgow),  ‘Diplomatic Theory and the Practice of International History’.

Programme

The programme will feature a mixture of lectures by expert speakers, and presentations from participants.  The workshop will be limited to 50 places.  The purpose of the workshop is to explore contemporary thinking on the past, present, and future of international history from critical perspectives, to foster links and dialogue between like-minded academics and research students, and to stimulate collective thinking on the future of the discipline.

Friday 6 May

09:15-10:30: Opening Plenary

Dr Patrick Finney (University of Aberystwyth), ‘Predictions, Balance Sheets and Prospects: The Future of International History’.

Commentary (TBC)

10:30-11:00: Coffee Break

11:00-12:00: Panel A – Politics, the Law and the Uses of International History

1. Dr Andrew Cobbing (University of Nottingham), ‘The Meandering Paths of Extraterritorial Regimes: From Unequal Treaties to Globalization and Transnational Flows’.
2. Dr Paula Dumas (Independent scholar), ‘Making use of slavery history today’.

Commentary by Dr Patrick Finney (University of Aberystwyth)

12:00-13:00: Lunch

13:00-14:15: Second Plenary

Professor Evan Mawdsley (University of Glasgow), ‘Grand Strategy as International History’.

Commentary (TBC)

14:15-14:45: Coffee Break

14:45-15:45: Panel B – The Second World War & International History

1. Colin McDowall (University of Glasgow), ‘Politics of diplomacy: The British Chiefs of Staff, Anglo-French relations and the Second British Expeditionary Force, June 1940’.
2. Austin Smith (University of St. Andrews), ‘Mapping Memories of the Tokushima Air Raids’.

Commentary by Dr Konrad Lawson (University of St. Andrews)

15:45-16:15: Coffee Break

16:15-17:15: Panel C – The Cold War & International History

1. Athanasios Antonopoulos (University of Edinburgh), ‘International History of the Cold War: the case the Greek-US relations’.
2. Jie Li (University of Edinburgh), ‘Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Chinese Sovietology’.

Commentary by Dr Fabian Hilfrich (University of Edinburgh)

18:30: Conference Dinner

Saturday 7 May

10:00-11:30: Panel D – Middle East/Asian Perspectives

1. Ali Bayindir (University of Dundee), ‘Ottoman Relations with Britain and France in the second half of the 18th century (1757-1808): The significance of diplomatic relations with the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Sea’.
2. Dr Burcin Cakir (Glasgow Caledonian University), ‘Ottoman Call to Jihad and Its Aftermath: Entangled Histories in the Middle East’.
3. Özgecan Kesici (University College Dublin), ‘The creation of the Kazakh national identity: An analysis of the 20^th Century Kazakh intelligentsia’.

Commentary by Dr David Motadel (University of Edinburgh)

11:30-12:00: Coffee Break

12:00-13:15: Third Plenary

Professor Peter Jackson (University of Glasgow), ‘Diplomatic Theory and the Practice of International History’.

Commentary (TBC)

13:15-14:15: Lunch

14:15-15:15: Panel E – Sport and International History

1. Dr Mauricio Borrero (St. John University), ‘The Geographies of International Sport’.
2. Souvik Naha (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), ‘‘The Russian deadpan expert’ pitted against ‘America’s white hope’: a global history of the 1972 World Chess Championship’.

Commentary by Dr David Kaufman (University of Edinburgh)

15:15-15:45: Coffee Break

15:45-17:15: Concluding Panel Discussion – Researching International History

1. George Roberts (University of Warwick)
2. Dr David Motadel (University of Edinburgh)
3. Dr Iain Lauchlan (University of Edinburgh)
4. TBC

Registration

There will be a registration fee of £5 to guarantee your place and cover the cost of meals.  Limited bursaries to cover the cost of travel (within the UK) and accommodation are available for presenters. Please register via the ePay form found via the following link:

• Booking link

Organisation and contact

The Workshop is jointly organised by Dr David Kaufman, Dr Malcolm Craig (both History, University of Edinburgh) and Professor James Livesey (University of Dundee).  The Student organisers are: Jonathan Singerton, Angela Clem (both Edinburgh), Colin McDowall (Glasgow), Matt Yilato (St. Andrews) and Andy McDiarmid (Dundee).  Please contact either David Kaufman (D.Kaufman@ed.ac.uk) or Elaine Philip (Elaine.Philip@ed.ac.uk) with any enquiries. 

Event partners

This event is run in partnership with:

• The Scottish Graduate School for the Arts and Humanities
• The British International History Group
• The Centre for the Study of Modern Conflict at the University of Edinburgh
• The Practice of International History in the 21^st Century Network (The Practice of International History in the 21st Century Network aims to bring together anyone interested in the nature and contemporary practice of international history. If you would like to become a member, please email arts-pih21@glasgow.ac.uk with your name, affiliation and a brief note of your research interests.