Published on 05 April 2018
Dr Sarah Hellawell has been speaking on the theme of 'Students in the North East of England and the Aftermath of the Great War' at an event held by the North East Labour History Society this week.
Dr Hellawell was recently appointed Lecturer in Modern British History in our School of Culture, within Sunderland’s Institute of Education and Society.
During her talk, the academic explored the impact of the First World War on student life in the North East, shedding light on the student-led initiatives to foster a greater sense of internationalism during the inter-war years.
This research is part of the ‘British Ex-Service Students and the Rebuilding of Europe Project, 1918-1922′ led by academics at Sunderland, Northumbria and UCL Universities in connection with the National Union of Students and the North-East branch of the Workers’ Educational Association.
It has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s WWI Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire. This project has led to a pop-up exhibition, public talks, a blog and a forthcoming journal article.
Before joining us Dr Hellawell taught at Northumbria University, where she also completed her doctoral research.
Her PhD examined the British Women’s International League (WIL), an organisation that campaigned for peace, disarmament and international law, alongside goals for women’s rights. Aspects of this research have been published in Women’s History Reviewand in a forthcoming book chapter for an edited collection on the history of the Union of International Associations.
In 2017, Sarah was Research Associate on the 'British Ex-Service Students and the Re-building of Europe Project, 1919-1926'. She conducted archival research in London and the North-East of England on the history of student activism after the First World War.