UCSB/GWU/LSE International Graduate Student Conference on the Cold War

Two third year PhD students of the International History and Politics Section, Bernhard Blumenau and Nathaniel Powell, attended the International Graduate Students Conference on the Cold War, which was hosted in Santa Barbara, California and which is organised annually by the London School of Economics, George Washington University and the University of California in Santa Barbara. Bernhard and Nathaniel presented papers on respectively "The Other Battleground of the Cold War: The UN, Germany and International Terrorism in the 1970s" and "Saving Mobutu: An International History of Africa's First Peacekeeping Force". Prominent Cold War historians such as Odd Arne Westad, Hope Harrison, Mary Elise Sarotte and Salim Yaqub provided valuable comments and feedback to the graduate students presenting at the conference.

Visit to the Museum of Swiss Abroad

Professor Liebich's course on Nationalism visited the Museum of the Swiss Abroad on 18 April 2011. The tour was guided by Anselm Zurfluh, Director of the Institute and Museum of the Swiss Abroad.

Visit to the Palais des Nations

Professor Liebich's course on the Twenty Years' Crisis went offsite to the Palais des Nations on 19 April 2011.

First we had an introduction to the Archives of the League of Nations.


Then our handy tour guide (a PhD Candidate in our department!) gave us a wonderful overview of the League of Nations - its activities, structures, successes, failures, and so forth.







We even spotted a few of the famous Ariana peacocks!

Save the Date!

The International History and Politics Department is pleased to invite current students and faculty to its annual BBQ!

It will take place at the cafeteria Barton's Parc (just below AJF) from 18h30 on Tuesday, 24 May.

Valuing the humanities

An interesting few pieces as of late on the value of degrees in humanities:

- Professor André Liebich sends this link from the Harvard Business Review blog - Tony Golsby-Smith on why the humanities produce innovative thinkers.

- Check out the website of the nascent US President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.