HOTCUS Winter Symposium, 21st February 2025
Francis Close Hall Campus, Cheltenham, University of Gloucestershire
The HOTCUS Winter Symposium 2025 will take place at the University of Gloucestershire on Friday 21 February 2025 and reflect on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the significant impact of the war on American life, history, and culture.
Registratation for this event is now open, and attendants should register by February 12th to secure their place through this link.
Below is a schedule of the Winter Symposium:
9.00-9.45 Registration with tea and coffee (The Loft, no. 4 on campus map)
9.45-11.00: Panel 1: Gender, Sexuality, and American Identity (HC203, no. 5 on campus map)
- Maddie Hale (University of Worcester) – ‘‘WE MUST! WE WILL! WE CAN!’: American identity in the newspapers of Japanese American incarceration camps, 1942-1945
- Katie Marshall (University of Sussex) – Sergeants and Sidecars: Military Enlistment, Cross-Country Migration, and Lesbian Nightlife in World War II America
- Samantha Lanevi (University of Cambridge) – How to be an American Housewife: Bride Schools of the Occupation of Japan
10.45-11: Break
11.15 -12.30 Keynote Lecture (CE102, no. 9 on campus map)
Prof. Thomas Guglielmo (George Washington University): Divisions & Quotients: The Aftermaths of US Military Racism during World War II and Beyond
12.30-1.30 Lunch (The Loft)
1.30-2.30 Panel 2 (CE102): Incarceration and Protest during World War II
- Caleb Woodall (University of Cambridge) – Prisoners of Conscience: Gender and Pacifist Protest in the United States’ World War II Prison System
- Dr Simona Tobia (Universite’ de Pau) – ‘I was scared as hell, you know…’ African American POWs and the shaping and reshaping of WWII legacies
2.45 – 3.45: Panel 3 (CE102): Domestic Politics and World War II
- Lewis Johnson (University of Edinburgh) – World War II and the Rise of Southern Republicanism
- Dr Wendy Toon (University of Worcester) – ‘The hope of this country lies in its mothers’: We, the Mothers, Mobilize for America Inc.’s Vilification of World War Two
3.45-4.00 Coffee Break (CE102 lobby)
4.00-5.15 Roundtable Discussion (CE102: New Scholarship on America and WWII
- Chair: Prof. Stephen Tuck (University of Oxford)
- Dr Christian O’Connell (University of Gloucestershire)
- Prof. Susan Carruthers (University of Warwick)
- Dr Simon Topping (University of Plymouth)
- Prof Thomas Guglielmo (George Washington University)
5.15-5.30 Closing remarks and Symposium close
The Call for Papers is now closed, but is reproduced below:
HOTCUS Winter Symposium, 2025: The United States and World War II: Impacts and Legacies at Home and Abroad
University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham – February 21, 2025
The 2025 HOTCUS Winter Symposium coincides with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and a number of important commemorative events in the United States and across the world. This anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the varied effects of this global conflict which triggered profound social and economic shifts in the United States, and also saw millions of American military personnel stationed abroad. In this one-day conference, we seek to bring together historians of the twentieth-century to consider the significance of the conflict for different groups of Americans in and outside of the military during the War but also in the post-war decades, including women, African Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, and other minorities. It also invites scholars to consider the significance of the conflict in terms of American politics, economics, and foreign policy, particularly in relation to the nation’s shifting role in the world. Given the emphasis on commemorative events and forms of remembrance in 2024 and 2025, scholars are also invited to discuss what these events – as well as representations of the war in popular culture – indicate about the lasting legacies of the conflict, possibly questioning the prominence of ideas such as those of the ‘good war’ and the ‘greatest generation.’
The range of important issues mentioned above ensures a diverse range of historical themes and approaches. However, we ask that those interested in contributing to the conference reflect upon the cross currents identified in this CFP, and consider any planned papers as a contribution to a conversation about the war and its significance for the United States at home and abroad. The symposium will also feature a roundtable discussion of two prominent recent texts in World War II studies, Thomas Guglielmo’s Divisions: A New History of Racism and Resistance in America’s World War II Military (Oxford, 2022) and Matthew Delmont’s Half-American: The Heroic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad (Penguin, 2024).
We welcome a range of contributions from interested scholars, from postgraduates to professors and independent scholars, including traditional 20-minute research presentations. However, we particularly encourage interested scholars to consider other formats for sharing their research, through the development and submission of full panel proposals, where possible.
If submitting an individual paper proposal, please submit a 250 word abstract plus a short, one page C.V. to [email protected] by Sunday 1 December, 2024. If you are proposing a panel, please submit an abstract for each contribution. If you would like to discuss a possible format for a panel or individual contribution to the conference, please contact the email address above. Interested scholars are invited to share ideas and look for possible panel members via the following online form: Panel Finder.
The organisers are hoping to develop an edited collection or journal special issue with interested presenters, so please do let us know if this is something that interests you when applying to present your work at the conference.