Fennell Forum - War and history: A conversation

The forum, to be held in person and broadcast on Zoom, will bring together colleagues from the School with guests to discuss the impact of war as a force that continues to shape the modern world. Unfortunately, war has been a constant feature of the twenty-first century. Our commentators, all experts in different aspects of war and conflict from different historical periods, will reflect on the causes and consequences of armed conflict. They will engage in conversation and take questions from the audience -- both in attendance and online.  

The forum will be moderated by Dr Diana Paton, William Robertson Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh and will feature contributions by Professor Phillips Payson O’Brien, head of the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews; Professor Andrew Preston, Cambridge University; and Dr Wendy Ugolini, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Edinburgh. 

The Fennell Forum is an annual event made possible through the generosity of Mr Simon Fennell, a history graduate of the University. 

The speakers

Phillips Payson O’Brien is  Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St Andrews. Born and raised in Boston, he graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut before working on Wall Street for two years. He earned a PhD in British and American politics and naval policy before being selected as Cambridge University’s Mellon Research Fellow in American History, and a Drapers Research Fellow at Pembroke College. Formerly at the University of Glasgow, he moved to St Andrews in 2016. He is the author of 'How the War was Won' (2015) and 'The Second Most Powerful Man in the World' (2019). 

Andrew Preston is Professor of American History and a Fellow of Clare College at Cambridge University; in 2021, he was President of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR). He is the author or editor of nine books, and is currently writing a book on the idea of national security in American history as well as editing Volume 2 of 'The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War'. He was the 2016 Fennell Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. 

Wendy Ugolini is an award-winning historian of the Second World War specialising in ethnicities and identity formation. Educated at the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, she is a Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at Edinburgh. Her first book, 'Experiencing War as the 'Enemy Other'. Italian Scottish Experience in World War II', was awarded the Royal Historical Society's Gladstone Book Prize. Wendy's research interests focus on the relationship between war and identities in Second World War Britain, with a focus on duality. Her forthcoming book on the mobilisation of Welshness in wartime England will be published by OUP. Wendy is the co-founder of the Second World War Network (Scotland) funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh 

Diana Paton is William Robertson Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh where she serves as the Head of History.