New AHRC-funded centre encourages public participation in First World War centenary events.
Launched on 30 May and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in conjunction with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Gateways to the First World War was developed to connect academic and public histories of the war .
The centre, which is one of only five in the UK, includes a dedicated web portal featuring archive material, including many photographs published for the first time.
The centres also form part of the First World War Centenary Partnership, led by the Imperial War Museums, and will complement other AHRC activities, including the BBC’s World War One at Home project.
The launch event was attended by the Austrian ambassador to the UK and featured lectures by historian Professor Mark Connelly, a leading expert on WW1 and head of the University’s Gateway centre, and Dr Heide Kunzelmann, of the School of European Culture and Languages.
For the launch, Dr Kunzelmann made available photographs taken by her great-grandfather – a medical officer during the war – of prisoners and troop mobilisations.
Professor Connelly is one of three historiansfrom Kent selected to participate in the World War One at Home project. The others are Professor Ian Becket and Dr Timothy Bowman.
For more information contact Martin Herrema.