Meredith to Hold Symposium on World War I

The Meredith College Department of History, Political Science, and International Studies invites you to help us commemorate the 100th anniversary of U.S. entry into WWI at our symposium April 6-8, 2017. Presenters will bring regional, national, and global perspectives to bear in this reflection on the war’s history and legacy.

Paper topics include an examination of women and trauma, the experiences of soldiers, manhood and citizenship, military strategy and operations, political aspects of the war, questions of empire and identity, the flu pandemic and public health, issues of race and ethnicity, propaganda, and art.

Two Meredith College faculty are presenting papers. On Friday, April 7 at 9 a.m., Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures Débora Maldonado-DeOliveira will deliver her paper, “The Battle for Identity and Representation: Puerto Rico and US American Citizenship, 1917-2017,” as part of the Empire and Identity panel. Professor of Communication Teresa Holder presents her paper, “Eat this, don’t eat that: An Analysis of Social Influence Tactics in the ‘Sow the Seeds of Victory’ Campaign,” on Saturday, April 8 at 9 a.m. as part of the War in Visual panel. Other Meredith faculty are participating in a roundtable discussion about the war at our plenary session Thursday evening, April 6, and several faculty are also serving as panel chairs.

In remembrance of those who experienced the war, a group of Meredith students in French 308, our Francophone Literature course, will present WWI-era readings from French literary texts and testimonies during lunch on Friday, April 7. If you are unable to join us for this presentation, a couple of the students will also present at the plenary session on Thursday evening.

Please plan to attend the panels of interest to you and also encourage your students to attend.

“The world must be made safe for democracy.” President Woodrow Wilson, Address to Congress, April 2, 1917.

–Submitted by Angela Marritt, Assistant Professor of History