Past Events
‘Shipbuilding on the Home Front during the Great War, with special reference to Clydeside’.
Professor Hugh Murphy, Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow
Wednesday 24th October 2018, 6.30-7.30pm
Yudowitz Seminar Room, Wolfson Medical School Building, University Avenue.
An event to mark the centenary of the end of the Great War. Sponsored by the Centre for Business History in Scotland.
Refreshments will be served
Wings to War: Glasgow and the Centenary of the Royal Air Force
28 March to 3 July 2018
9.00am - 5pm
Memorial Chapel
Free
Glasgow and its University will forever be linked to the founding of RAF thanks to the vision and dedication of one former student: Lieutenant-General Sir David Henderson, considered by many to be the ‘father of the Royal Air Force.’ Wings to War: Glasgow and the Centenary of the Royal Air Force explores the history from the age of fragile biplanes to fast jets, highlighting the contributions made by Glasgow staff and alumni.
More information can be found here.
Aircraft Model Making Workshop
9 and 10 April 2018
2pm - 4pm
Memorial Chapel
Free
Come and try aircraft modelling in the beautiful surroundings of the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel. This free event is open to all but is aimed at children of primary school age. There will be the opportunity to purchase a model starter set and begin to construct it under the supervision of Martin McElroy from Wildcat Models. Accompanying adults must closely supervise children at all times.
For more information and to register, please click here.
Wings to War: Glasgow and the Birth of the RAF
22 April 2018
12pm - 4pm
Pollok Park
Free
Aviation really took off during World War 1, prompted by the need to get a bird's eye view and create accurate maps of the Western Front. The RAF took over the work of its predecessor, the Royal Flying Corps, 100 years ago this month.
2pm - Professor Tony Pollard tells the story of Sir David Henderson and Frank Barnwell, two sons of Glasgow who played key roles in WW1 aerial reconnaissance and the RAF.
All afternoon -
Winging it: Learn to make the perfect paper airplane, test its performance and enter our airshow league table!
Pilots in Training: What did it take to become a WW1 pilot? Learn the ropes and earn your wings.
Eyes in the Sky: An exhibition that tells the story of WW1 aerial reconnaissance, mapmaking, and aircraft.
For more information, please click here.
Glasgow Science Festival: The Science of Flight
Date: 7 June 2018
Time: 18.00-20.30
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre, 3 Kelvin Way, Glasgow
Discover Glasgow’s contributions to aeronautics over the last century, since University of Glasgow alumnus Sir David Henderson founded the RAF in 1918. How have science, medicine and engineering evolved? How did pilots deal with the physiological and psychological effects of flying then and now? And what does the future hold?
An interdisciplinary panel from the University of Glasgow will comment on the past, present and future of military aviation from a distinctly Glaswegian perspective.
18.00 Drinks will be served to celebrate the wonderful range of Festival events starting at the University of Glasgow. A pop up exhibition from the University Archive will feature stories of pioneering Glasgow women in military aviation.
18.30 Welcome/Glasgow and the origins of the Royal Air Force – Tony Pollard, Professor of Conflict History & Archaeology (School of Humanities)
18.50 From Campus to the Clouds: Glasgow University and the Royal Air Force - Jesper Ericsson, Curator of the Wings to War Exhibition in the University of Glasgow Chapel (The Hunterian)
19.05 Flight and the Human Body and Mind – Dr Beverly Bergman, Honorary Senior Research Fellow (Institute of Health and Wellbeing)
19.20 The Evolution and Future of Military Aviation – George Barakos, Professor of Aerospace Sciences (School of Engineering)
19.35 The RAF and Glasgow beyond 2020 - Flight Lt Doug Galletly, Commanding Officer 4 Air Experience Flight
Followed by a Q&A. Tickets for this event are available here.
Claude Debussy in Memoriam Chamber Concert
Date: 22 March 2018
Time: 19.00-21.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Staff, students, and members of the public are warmly invited to a chamber concert at the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra chamber players. The performance includes Debussy's three completed sonatas from his 'Six Sonatas for Diverse Instruments', with newly-commissioned works by Adam Gorb, Martha Sullivan, Tom Butler, Gregor Forbes, Etienne Kippelen, Gary Carpenter, and Drew Hammond.
This event is part of 'Claude Debussy in 2018: a Centenary Celebration', with a focus on music Debussy created during the First World War. More information is available here.
Lunchtime Talk Series - War and Medicine
Date: Friday 27th April 2017
Time: 13.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
The nurses and patients of the Scottish Women's Hospital, Royaumont talk by Dr Alison O'Donnell. All welcome.
Lunchtime Talk Series - War and Medicine
Date: Friday 31st March 2017
Time: 13.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Why was the College of Nursing founded during the war? talk by Fiona Bourne. All welcome.
Lunchtime Talk Series - War and Medicine
Date: Friday 24th February 2017
Time: 13.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Public Health in the Trenches: Defence against poison gas talk by Dr Beverly Bergman. All welcome.
Lunchtime Talk Series - War and Medicine
Date: Friday 27th January 2017
Time: 13.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Naomi Mitchison's VAD Nursing talk by Dr Anna Mcfarlane. All welcome.
Remembrance Sunday Service
Date: Sunday 13th November 2016
Time: 10.30 for 10.45-12.30
Venue: University of Glasgow Bute Hall
Please note that all staff, students, alumni and members of the public are welcome to attend.
Battle of the Somme film
Date: Friday 11th November 2016
Time: 10.45 onwards with an evening showing at 17.30pm
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Also Friday, 11 November the University will be showing The Battle of the Somme, a film blending documentary and propaganda that was shot by official war cinematographers Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell in the trenches from 25 June–9 July 1916 and first shown to British audiences that August. By October 1916 more than 20 million tickets had been sold across the UK. The re-mastered film is provided by the Imperial War Museum. Run time is 74 minutes.
The film will be shown in the University Chapel on loop throughout the day immediately following the 10.45am Act of Remembrance, with an evening showing at 5.30pm. The event is free and open to the public, but if you want to attend the 5.30pm screening we ask that you book a free ticket so that the organisers can keep track of numbers. Visit the Eventbrite website.
An Act of Remembrance
Date: Friday 11th November 2016
Time: 10.30 for 10.45-11.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
An Act of Remembrance will be observed in the University Chapel at 10.45 am on Friday 11th November. A two minutes silence will be observed and the Presidents of the SRC, GUSA, GUU, QMU will then lay a wreath at the Memorial Garden adjacent to the Quincentenary Commemorative Gates from the students of today to the students who gave their lives in The Great War and subsequent conflicts.
Forward!
Date: Saturday 23rd July 2016
Time: 15.00-19.00
Venue: Glasgow Women's Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow G40 1BP
Commemorating the centenary of the 1916 Women’s Peace Crusade march in Glasgow. Throughout 2016 a group of citizen researchers has been exploring the women involved in the 1916 peace crusade. At 3.00pm on Saturday, 23rd July, the group will lead a guided walk from Glasgow Green to the Women’s Library, where a special exhibition will be launched and a film screened. This event is free to attend. Please visit Glasgow Women's Library to find out more.
Faith and the First World War, an academic conference to be held at the University of Glasgow
Date: Thursday 21st July and Friday 22nd July 2016
Time: 10.00-17.00
Venue: James Watt Builidng (South), Room J15, University Avenue, University of Glasgow
The conference will cover a broad range of topics. Plenary speakers include the following:
- Michael Snape, From Flanders to Helmand: Chaplaincy, Faith and Religious Change in the British Army, 1914-2014
- Stewart J. Brown, The Scottish and Irish Reformed Churches and the First World War
- Jo Moffett-Levy, Anti-Jewish imagery in a WW1 memorial: the stations of the cross in an Oxford church
- Katarzyna Stoklosa, Catholicism and patriotism in Eastern European Countries during WWI: the example of Poland
- Gerhard Besier, Harmonizing conflicting demands and emotions: Christian believers during WWI
- Cyril Pearce, Communities of Resistance: New thoughts on Britain’s 1914-1918 war resisters
- Andrew Mein, A God Fit for Heroes? The Mobilization of the Old Testament in First World War Germany
- Lesley Orr, “If Christ could be militant, so could I”: Helen Crawfurd and the Women’s Peace Crusade, 1916–18
There will also be a number of short papers over the course of the two days.
Remembering the Battle of the Somme: 1916-2016
Date: Friday 1st July 2016
Time: 7.20-8.30
Venues: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel and the Memorial Garden
On the 1st July the University of Glasgow is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War Battle of the Somme. Nineteen members of the University community died on the first day alone with many more perishing in the four and a half months of battle.
Commemorative activities will commence at 07.28am, the time when soldiers were ordered to climb out of their trenches and cross no-man’s land. There will be a morning prayer service in the Memorial Chapel, where short biographies of those who died exactly one hundred years ago will be read out. After this we will plant poppy crosses in the First World War Memorial Garden (by the Memorial Gates at University Avenue) and hold a minute’s silence to remember those who died. Please be seated by 07.20 so that the service can begin at 07.28. These events are part of international commemorations overseen by the British Legion, which is coordinating overnight vigils across the country and at Thiepval Memorial in France, culminating in services of remembrance around the country at 07.28am. This is a free event and all are welcome.
Remembering the Battle of the Somme: 1916-2016
Date: Friday 1st July 2016
Time: All day
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel and University Avenue
Throughout the day on Friday knitted panels made by Somme Observance Community Knitting will be on display along University Avenue and in the chapel. The panels are a creative data visualisation made by knitters from around the world. Each individual square represents a member of the three Glasgow Pals Battalions (15th Tramways Battalion, 16th Boys Brigade Battalion and 17th Chamber of Commerce Battalion Highland Light Infantry) whose first major engagement in the First World War was the Somme. These will be on display for one day only as they will go on display at the People’s Palace on Sunday, so please do take a moment to view the panels while they are on campus.
Remembering the Battle of the Somme: 1916-2016
Date: Friday 1st July 2016
Time: 18.30-20.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
In the evening we will be showing The Battle of the Somme, a film blending documentary and propaganda that was shot by official war cinematographers Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell in the trenches from 25 June–9 July 1916 and first shown to British audiences that August. By October 1916 over 20 million tickets had been sold across the UK. The re-mastered film and modern soundtrack (Laura Rossi, 2006) are provided by the Imperial War Museum. Run time is 74 minutes and Tony Pollard will provide a brief introduction. This is a free event and all are welcome.
Remembrance Sunday Service
Date: Sunday 8th November 2015
Time: 10.30 for 10.45-12.30
Venue: University of Glasgow Bute Hall
Please note that all staff, students, alumni and members of the public are welcome.
Remembering the Battle of Loos: 1915-2015
Date: Friday 25th September 2015
Time: 19.00-20.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
On the 25th September the University of Glasgow is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the World War One Battle of Loos. Thirty-nine members of the University's community died during the battle. At 19.00, in the University Memorial Chapel, there will be a programme of readings from WWI letters and diaries, culminating in the premiere of a specially commissioned piece of music, "From the Fallow Fields", by composer Drew Mulholland, who is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences and an Honorary Research Associate in Physics and Astronomy.
Refreshments will be provided. This event is free and open to the public, but donations to Erskine would be warmly welcomed by the musicians, who are waiving their performance fees.
Battle of Loos 1915: Lunchtime Lecture
Date: Friday 25th September 2015
Time: 13.00-14.00
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Building (Room 101A)
25 September 2015 marks the centenary of the WWI Battle of Loos. Forty-three members of the University of Glasgow community died in the battle. Dr Tony Pollard will offer a lecture on the significance of the battle.
Professors’ Square and The Great War
Date: Friday 19th June 2015
Time: 13.30
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Annika Firn (MSc Museum Studies, University of Glasgow) presents her research on Professors’ Square during The Great War. This talk explores The Square as it was during The Great War. Focussing on the Professors and families that lived there at the time, this talk will discuss their contributions to the University and the larger war effort. This talk is part of the Glasgow University’s Great War lunchtime talk series.
Scottish Women’s Hospitals
Date: Friday 22nd May 2015
Time: 13.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
A 15-minute lunchtime talk by Bethany Lane (Msc Museum Studies, University of Glasgow). Bethany Lane presents her research on the University of Glasgow women who served with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service and the exhibition she curated for the University Memorial Chapel.
Art, Law and the Sinking of the Lusitania
Date: Friday 8th May 2015
Time: 13.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
A 15-minute lunchtime talk by Professor Nick Pearce (Richmond Chair of Fine Art, University of Glasgow). Nick Pearce tells the stories of art dealer Edgar Gorer and art collector, Sir Hugh Lane, both of whom lost their lives on the RMS Lusitania. At the time of his death, Gorer was fighting a legal battle in the US courts to save his reputation; Lane’s death would see the British and Irish art establishment in an ownership tug-of-war over his bequest, which would last for decades to come.
Glasgow University’s Gallipoli
Date: Friday 24th April 2015
Time: 13.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
A 15-minute lunchtime talk by Dr Jen Novotny (Research Assistant, University of Glasgow). The 100th anniversary of the first Gallipoli landings is marked by examining the participation of members of the University of Glasgow community in this momentous campaign.
The Hayworth Brothers
Date: Friday 10th April 2015
Time: 13.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
A 15-minute lunchtime talk by Euan Loarridge (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Museum). Euan Loarridge tells the story of Frederick and Harry Hayworth, brothers and students at the University of Glasgow who left their studies to fight with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in the First World War. The Hayworths fought at Arras and died less than a month apart in April and May 1917.
Curating the Great War
Date: Friday 27th March 2015
Time: 13.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
A 15-minute lunchtime talk by Michael O’Brien (Msc Museum Studies, University of Glasgow). Recent University of Glasgow graduate (MSc Museum Studies) Michael O’Brien reflects upon the design and installation of an exhibition on the role of the University of Glasgow’s Officers Training Corps during the First World War. This included negotiating a difficult and emotive subject to provide a fresh perspective on the war and its legacy.
Glasgow University’s Neuve Chapelle
Date: Friday 13th March 2015
Time: 13.15
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
A 15-minute lunchtime talk by Dr Tony Pollard. In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, this 15-minute talk will explore the experiences of members of the University of Glasgow community in the British Army’s first large-scale, organised attack on the Western Front.
World organisation born from a World War?
Date: Wednesday 4th February 2015
Time: 17.30-18.30
Venue: Melville Room (Gilbert Scott Building)
This lecture will be given by Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Université de Genève. This lecture is part of the series, The Father of All Things? The Great War and the Development of International (Security) Law. All welcome. Reception to follow. The lecture series is sponsored by the Chancellor’s Fund, University of Glasgow.
Lines Drawn in the Sand. Territorial Settlements after World War I
Date: Wednesday 28th January 2015
Time: 17.30-18.30
Venue: Room 250 (Gilbert Scott Building)
This lecture will be given by Professor Malcolm N. Shaw, Essex Court Chambers, London. This lecture is part of the series, The Father of All Things? The Great War and the Development of International (Security) Law. All welcome. Reception to follow. The lecture series is sponsored by the Chancellor’s Fund, University of Glasgow.
Christmas Truce Service
Date: Thursday 18th December 2014
Time: 18.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Family Service Lessons & Carols
Date: Sunday 14th December 2014
Time: 18.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Animal Service in remembrance of companions and working animals especially those who died during the First World War
Date: Tuesday 2nd December 2014
Time: 18.30-20.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
John Buchan and brother Alastair - Novelist, Diplomat, Propaganda and Poetry
Date: Tuesday 25th November 2014
Time: 19.00
Venue: University Library
A Friends of Glasgow University Library talk will be given by Doctor Catriona Macdonald. All welcome.
The Father of All Things? An Introduction
Date: Wednesday 19th November 2014
Time: 17.30
Venue: Melville Room (Main Building)
This lecture, part of the World War I and International (Security) Law Lecture Series, will be given by Professors Christian Tams and Robin Geiss (University of Glasgow). All welcome.
November Remembrance Day Service for families whose members died or served in the war
Date: Tuesday 11th November 2014
Time: 10.45 for 11.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
November Remembrance Day Evening Reflections with readings and music
Date: Tuesday 11th November 2014
Time: 18.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Eve of Armistice Eucharist
Date: Date: Monday 10th November 2014
Time: 17.30
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
This celebration of the Eucharist will use the Office of the 1912 Scottish Prayer Book, used for services for Episcopalians prior to their departure to war.
November Remembrance Sunday Service including the dedication of new names on the Roll of Honour
Date: Sunday 9th November 2014
Time: 10.45 for 11.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Bute Hall
Kastalsky: Requiem for Fallen Brothers
Date: Sunday 9th November 2014
Time: 19.30
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Russkaya Cappella (Scotland’s Russian Choir) will be performing Kastalsky: Requiem for Fallen Brothers, composed during the First World War as a memorial to Allied soldiers who died in the course of it. The requiem draws on funeral music in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions.
St Martins Day Service in remembrance of Germany’s fallen
Date: Sunday 2nd November 2014
Time: 10.45 for 11.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
All welcome
The Challenge Of Good Citizenship Today: Memory, Hope, And The Crisis Of Trust
Date: Thursday 23rd October 2014
Time: 18.00 (followed by reception at 19.30)
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Building Lecture Theatre
This Stevenson Lecture will be given by Werner Jeanrond, Master of St Benet's Hall, University of Oxford and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the University of Glasgow.
Daily Service commemorating Major Charles McClure
Date: Tuesday 21st October 2014
Time: 08.45
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
The Christian Union leads the Daily Service and remembers in the prayers the name of Major Charles McClure. See Memorial Garden - remembering our people.
Paris 1919 - A New World Order?
Free online course run in collaboration with the BBC
Course begins: 13th October 2014
World War 1 lasted for four long years, but when it had finally come to an end, there seemed to be a window of opportunity - an opportunity to conclude a ‘peace to end all wars’ and to create a new world order.
This was the task of the Paris Peace conference of 1919, the largest international conference the world had ever seen. For a few months, statesmen, diplomats, activists and journalists met in the city of light. They took momentous decisions - partitioning empires, creating States, and establishing the first-ever world organisation, the League of Nations - that shaped the world. They often got it wrong - but they understood that global affairs needed a permanent forum where major conflicts could be addressed.
Now you can retrace the steps of those who took such momentous decisions almost 100 years ago with our free online course: World War 1: Paris 1919 – A New World Order?
Led by Professor Christian Tams of the University of Glasgow, and produced in collaboration with the BBC and FutureLearn, the three-week course is ideal for anyone with an interest in World War One and its legacy.
To find out more and to enrol, visit World War 1: Paris 1919 – A New World Order?
Kilts, Tanks and Aeroplanes: Scotland, Cinema and the First World War
Date: Friday 10th October 2014
Time: 19.00-20.30
Venue: Club Room, Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD
Website: Document International Human Rights Film Festival
The centenary of the First World War’s outbreak has received extensive media attention this year, often featuring well-known moving images from newsreels and official films. These factual and propaganda films, however, are only one aspect of the relationship between cinema and the war, at a peak time for cinema’s popularity in Scotland. University of Glasgow researchers Dr Maria Velez-Serna and Dr David Archibald discuss the films made in Scotland during the war, looking at how the conflict was pictured for Scottish audiences, and how the cinema trade’s commercial interests converged with the state’s militaristic rhetoric.
Service of Remembrance for Captain H S Ranken, VC and the launch of the University of Glasgow Great War Project
Date: Thursday 25th September 2014
Time: 10.45 for 11.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
After a short service, a white cross will be planted in the University’s Garden of Remembrance, followed by a talk by Dr Tony Pollard on the University’s Great War Project. There will also be an University of Glasgow Great War Exhibition and video to view in the Chapel. Captain H S Ranken was the first Glaswegian to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War.
Tommy's War: a First World War diary - an exploration of the Home Front in Glasgow during the First World War, as recorded in the diaries of Thomas Cairns Livingstone, a shipping clerk who lived in Govanhill and worked in the city centre
Date: Tuesday 5th August 2014
Time: 10.00-16.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Open Studies Follow the History, International Affairs and Politics link and then the Scottish, Irish and Local link to view details (Note: there is a charge for this event)
Sundown Service to observe the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of War
Date: Monday 4th August 2014
Time: 22.45 for 23.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
All welcome
World War One Centenary Commemorative Concert - Hebrides Ensemble
and Marcus Farnsworth, baritone
Date: Monday 10th February 2014
Time: 19.30-21.00
Venue: University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Hebrides Ensemble marked the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1 with a programme commemorating that era and its recurring themes of tragedy, loss, demoralization, defiance and hope. Together, the pieces reflect the pre-war order and passion that turned to violent turmoil, and challenged our deepest human values.
Baritone Marcus Farnsworth joins Hebrides Ensemble for the centrepiece of the programme, George Butterworth’s achingly beautiful A Shropshire Lad, which juxtaposes rural idyll with the tragic premonition of loss, especially in the famous The Lads in their Hundreds. American composer Ned Rorem’s War Scenes frame the programme with Walt Whitman’s more explicit experience of the futility of an earlier war, the American Civil War, whilst Stuart MacRae sets Wilfred Owen’s The Parable of the Old Men and the Young in a new work specially commissioned by Hebrides Ensemble.
Schoenberg caused chaos in the musical world challenging the old order of harmony, but his Chamber Symphony is full of commitment and intense poetry. Debussy’s Berceuse Heroique, a powerful lullaby for a hero, was written as an homage to the troops shortly after the fall of Belgium.
Programme:
- Ned Rorem - War Scenes Night Battle
- Stuart MacRae - Parable (world première/Hebrides Ensemble commission)
- Stravinsky - Three pieces for solo clarinet
- Butterworth - Six songs from A Shropshire Lad
- Debussy - Berceuse Héroïque
- Schoenberg arr. Webern - Chamber Symphony No 1 Op 9
- Ned Rorem - War Scenes The real war will never get in the books