This interdisciplinary (hybrid) conference considers the role of universities in war past and present. Historically, the university experience in war is of loss, displacement, depleting student numbers, reallocation of staff to expert roles to support the war effort, students and staff engaged in active duty, and campus buildings re-purposed. Universities also become key for a country’s postwar reconstruction. However, not all universities have direct experience of conflict. This conference considers how universities operate in war zones and the role universities play in non-conflict zones to support the academy and the communities they serve in war and displacement.

Hosted by the University of Hull (UoH) and Mariupol State University (MSU), the conference is part of a British Council funded project exploring the role of the civic university.

We are working in partnership with the University of New Haven, USA, Hull and East Yorkshire Ukrainian Community (UK), Hull 4 Heroes (a UK Veterans charity) and Hull Truck Theatre (a Theatre of Sanctuary)

The conference theme derives from the Mariupol State University and University of Hull partnership and our British Council-funded work and looks to explore more widely what role universities play in war in the past, present and future.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022, nine years after Russia occupied Crimea, war returned to Europe for the first time since the Second World War. This led to large-scale physical displacement of Ukrainian populations and Ukrainian higher educational and pre-higher educational institutions in occupied and conflict zones, many of whom are now hosted by higher education providers in other parts of Ukraine.

Mariupol State University was founded in 1991. Mariupol is a port city on the Sea of Azov in the south of Ukraine. The university now operates in exile following invasion. The re-establishment of Donetsk National University in Vinnytsia after the university’s occupation in September 2014 provided a model for the situation faced by numerous Ukrainian universities in 2022. Collegiality and solidarity were echoed in the twinning schemes of support that formed internationally.

The University of Hull’s partnership with Mariupol State University formed after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022. The University of Hull (UoH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mariupol State University, as part of the UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative which aimed at creating mutually beneficial partnerships between Ukrainian and UK institutions. In the fall of 2024, the University of New Haven (UNH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mariupol State University (MSU) establishing collaboration across two main areas, each led by its respective committee: National Security and Veterans Affairs.

Conference Location (Hybrid)

Kingston upon Hull, historically a major port city in Eastern England, was, together with Plymouth on England’s south coast, the most bombed UK city in the Second World War after London. It was established as a University College in 1927, and the University of Hull will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027.

Day One invites academic papers on the theme of the role of universities in wartime and on Day Two we will have roundtable workshops with Ukrainian communities and British veteran communities in Yorkshire on the role of the university in supporting Ukrainian communities and UK veterans and their families

We invite presentations of 20-minute papers. Topics may include, but are not restricted to, the following:

Histories of universities during war
University students in war
Relations between the university and the city / community
Academics as experts / government advisory roles / propaganda activities
University as sanctuary
Security
Displaced communities
Oral testimonies of conflict
Creative writing, art and craftmaking, reflective expression
Veterans
Veteran families
Women and Community Leadership
Consequences of war
University libraries in war
Resilience and Recovery
Reconstruction
Mental Health
Trauma
Preservation of cultural identities
Culture as resistance
Occupation and colonization
Postwar recovery
 

There is no conference fee attached to this conference. Delegates will be required to fund their own travel and accommodation arrangements, should they wish to travel to the conference.

Please send an abstract for papers of 20 minutes to Dr Catherine Wynne: c.wynne@hull.ac.uk and Dr Jenny MacLeod j.macleod@hull.ac.uk by 10 October 2025.