On 19 March 2019, Oxford hosted the second instalment of the Interdisciplinary History of War Conference organized in collaboration between the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford and the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War at King’s College London.
This one-day event provided a forum for 25 early career researchers—doctoral candidates as well as Master’s students and postdocs—from the participating universities to present ongoing research in the history of war, understood not merely as military history but more widely as the study of how violence and warfare are conditioned by, interact with, and impact human societies in all their aspects.
Ranging from antiquity to the twenty-first century and spanning three continents, speakers examined such diverse subjects as the formulation of military and diplomatic strategy, violent challenges to established polities, the professionalization of military personnel, or the limits of what is legally and morally permissible in times of war. In line with the overarching goals of the series, the eight thematically arranged panels encouraged the exploration of common themes across chronological, geographical, and disciplinary specialization. The full programme is available here.
In addition to historians, presenters came from the fields of Archaeology, Classics, Conservation Studies, Film Studies, International Law, Japanese Studies, Sinology, South Asian Studies, and War Studies. Further participants included members of King’s College London and the University of Oxford as well as scholars from several other universities in the UK and Europe.
The 2019 Interdisciplinary History of War Conference was sponsored by the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford, the Oxford Centre for Global History, the Oxford Centre for European History, and All Souls College, Oxford.
Next year’s instalment will be hosted by the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War at King’s College London.
