A few words from the founders

A few words from the founders

Founders and Chairs

Clare Burgess

Co-organiser

"As a woman, and a member of the LGBT+ community, but first and foremost as a historian, I believe that it is crucial that we discuss the histories that are so often overlooked, but which can teach us so much. It is my hope that by giving undergraduates a chance to talk about marginalised communities within the discipline, and to discuss major challenges facing historians of these areas, that we can encourage students to contribute to this research and to the historical community: that we can create an inclusive and intersectional environment that embraces new perspectives and encourages involvement."

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Speakers

Farida Augustine (University of Leeds)

Identifying West Africans in the French Resistance

“As a student of French and Politics, I am fascinated by questions of identity. Specifically, the ways in which they are constructed by mainstream historical narratives and how this subsequently plays out within our societies. It is important that we challenge and question these histories and understand that certain peoples have not simply been forgotten but systematically removed and marginalised from it. Namely, the perspectives of BAME communities and womxn. This has been the case for the West African colonial subjects of the French Empire who played a vital role in the French Internal Resistance (1940-1945). However, their contributions have been largely overlooked from historical narratives surrounding the Second World War. I hope that this research will contribute to tackling this omission by identifying and telling the stories of West Africans who fought and played significant roles within the French Internal Resistance. I am hopeful that conferences like this one will encourage other students and young people to question what they have been taught in school and take part in actively constructing our histories.”