War, Commemoration and International Relations

Applications are invited for a 3-year fully funded (stipend and fees) PhD studentship. This unique PhD studentship is a collaboration between the University of Chester and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). It provides an opportunity to conduct academic research, while also engaging with knowledge exchange and the public presentation of the past. 

• Start date: Preferred start date is 01/05/2025, latest start date is 01/07/25

• End date: 36 months from agreed start date

The CWGC works to commemorate 1.7 million people from Commonwealth nations who lost their lives in the two world wars. Founded in 1917, and representing its member governments in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia New Zealand, India and South Africa, it is an organisation of deep historic importance and international renown. As it looks to the future, the CWGC has developed a strategy through to 2039 that has the express goal of ensuring commemoration is a tool for deepening international relations and for developing ‘high-level global relationships’: https://www.cwgc.org/media/kifai5og/cwgc-strategy-2023-2039-v2-low-res.pdf 

The student working on this PhD project will play a key role in helping to realise the CWGC’s strategic mission. Their task is to research the historic foundations of the CWGC's work in the interconnected realms of international relations and commemoration, giving consideration to the Commission’s past operations and present-day legacies, as well as their continuing relevance to the organisation’s member governments.

This project will be particularly suited to students with a background in Modern History, International Relations, Military History, Social and Cultural History, as well as Memory and Heritage Studies. 

Th While the central thread of the project will be the interface between commemoration and international relations, the project could do this by exploring a range of themes, such as:

• The reconstruction of international relations in the wake of either the First or the Second World Wars
• The bereaved, war veterans and transnational diplomacy
• Cemeteries as multinational spaces 
• Organisational relations within the CWGC’s membership or across commemoration organisations, such as the work of the mixed committees
• The planning, construction and operation of cemeteries on foreign soil
• The evolving nature of the CWGC’s operations in a post-colonial world
• The role that commemoration has played in shaping international engagement and co-operation 

The successful student will have regular opportunities to share their findings with the CWGC through workshops and events. These exchanges will lead to a set of recommendations based on the historical record that can help the CWGC to shape its practice as it builds for the future.