Pausing on a street in Tengchong, China, a Chinese civilian obtains a light from a U.S. Army sergeant during the liberation of the city from the Japanese military. 1944. (U.S. National Archives)
“Face to Face with History,” the 28th annual Tri-University History Conference to be held virtually on March 12, 2022, is organized this year by a team from Wilfrid Laurier University. The conference invites us to examine and discuss together how personal, political, and cultural interactions have transformed history and the ways we understand history. The conference was originally planned as a “face-to-face” event at Wilfrid Laurier University. Unfortunately, due to the uncertainties of the pandemic it was decided to move it to a virtual conference.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Lukasz Kryzanowski whose recent book, Ghost Citizens : Jewish Return to a Postwar City is getting rave reviews. The book is about Jews who returned to the city of Radom after WWII and their struggles as they return to hostility and internal turmoil. “Drawing on a rare collection of documents—including the postwar Radom Jewish Committee records, which were discovered by the secret police in 1974—Ghost Citizens is the moving story of Holocaust survivors and their struggle to restore their lives in a place that was no longer home.”
Dr. Blaine Chiasson, chair of the conference planning committee is excited to have Dr. Kryzanowski present at the conference. “Lukasz Krzyzanowski’s book, Ghost Citizens, focuses on the return of Polish Jews to their city of Radom. In their post-war face to face encounters, the former neighbours and victimizers turn away from their complicity in their returning Jewish neighbour’s persecution. Krzyzanowski’s work examines the quotidian power relationships between occupied and occupier in a Polish village after WWII and addresses the question of survival when living next to those who would persecute you.”
The 2022 Call for Proposals invites papers from a wide range of historical backgrounds, time periods, and perspectives. “As we emerge from the two-year interruption to our lives caused by the pandemic, our research and our discipline enables us to interact and exchange ideas.... It also fosters a return to a history that revels in examining the historical changes that occur when individuals, peoples, states, and cultures come face to face." Proposals are to be submitted by February 4, 2022, to the conference email: triuconf2022@gmail.com.
Dr. Jane Nicholas, Tri-U Director says, “The Tri-U conference is a highlight of the year for our community. It is a wonderful chance to showcase the innovative and important work being done by our students and faculty.”
The Wilfrid Laurier University-based planning committee is led by Dr. Chiasson, and includes several other student volunteers two of whom are PhD students, Kess Carpenter who is in her first year, and Carolyne Ticky who recently passed her comprehensives.
Please check the website for updates on registration, keynote information, the conference schedule, and other details as they become available.