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UniversityCollege Dublin, 6-7 September 2019This 2-day conference provides an opportunityto debate the ideas, developments and legacy of humanitarianism in the era ofthe Great War, 1912-1923. The conference sits at the intersection of twoburgeoning fields of historical inquiry, the history of humanitarianism and thehistory of the Great War. Recent years have seen an outpouring of innovativeresearch on humanitarian individuals and organizations, fields of action, andthe construction and use of ‘humanitarian narratives.’ A rapidly growing numberof scholars, too, have highlighted the unique role the First World War playedin fostering a ‘humanitarian awakening’ (Irwin), shaping humanitarian norms,discourses and practices. At the same time, recent scholarship on the FirstWorld War has led us to understand that conflict as a geographically and temporallymuch ‘Greater War’, whose critical events extended far beyond the fighting onthe Western front, and 1914-18. The conference aims to bring togetherscholars working on a wide variety of topics and employing different methodologicalapproaches to showcase and debate current research trends. It will discussabsences and contradictions in existing scholarship, and identify areas ofparticular interest for future research. Last not least, the conference seeksto encourage a dialogue between the all too often isolated historiographies onhumanitarianism and the ‘Greater War’: for example, how does the study of thatperiod’s unprecedented suffering complicate the war’s accepted chronologies andgeographies? And how might new notions of the global nature of the First WorldWar inform our approach to the history of humanitarianism? In all, theconference hopes to interrogate the significance of the era of the Great Warfor the emergence of modern humanitarianism, while also underlining theimportance of humanitarian engagement to understanding the war and itsaftermath. It is envisaged that a selection of conference papers will bepublished in an edited volume.Topics for presentations might include butare not limited to:the     role of individuals and organizations in humanitarian work in the era of     the Great Warthe     global dimension of suffering and efforts to ameliorate itthe     emergence of humanitarian norms, organizational forms, and practices at     the time, and (where applicable) their long-term impact the     place of humanitarian concerns in (home front) mobilizations and     demobilizations the     actions and agency of relief beneficiariesruptures     and continuities between the war and the post-war periodthe     relationship between humanitarianism and international politicsScholars interested in presenting a paper at the conference are invited to send a brief abstract of 300 words and a one-page CV by 15 February 2019 to humanitarianwarconference@gmail.comTheconference will be able to provide hotel accommodation to presenters. Scientific Committee:Peter Gatrell, University of ManchesterRobert Gerwarth, University College DublinRebecca Gill, University of HuddersfieldHeather Jones, University College LondonDavide Rodogno, The Graduate Institute, GenevaOrganizing Committee:  Elisabeth Piller, University College Dublin