MORE THAN BINDING MEN’S WOUNDS: WOMEN’S WARTIME NURSING IN RUSSIA DURING THE GREAT WAR

 

LAURIE STOFF, SENIOR HONORS FACULTY FELLOW, BARRETT HONORS COLLEGE, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 7:00PM | UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, THE COMMONS (SPOONER HALL)

Although the female nurse has been a fixture in modern warfare, she is often overlooked. The nurse’s role was especially important in World War I, when thousands of female medical personnel were required for the treatment of millions of soldiers and civilians. In Russia, nurses were indispensable to the war effort, serving on the front lines and often assuming public leadership roles. These nurses, far from merely binding wounds, provided vital services that put them squarely in traditionally masculine territory, both literally and figuratively.

Dr. Stoff holds a PhD and MA in History from the University of Kansas and a BA in History from The George Washington University. She specializes in Russian, East European, and women’s and gender history and studies. She has extensive teaching experience at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and in honor courses, having taught at the University of Kansas, the University of Vermont, and most recently, at Louisiana Tech University, where she was Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of History and the recipient of a number of teaching and research awards.

 EVERYDAY LIVES ON THE EASTERN FRONT: KU WWI LECTURE SERIES AY 2015/16

The experience of World War I, particularly on its Eastern Front, shaped the modern world in ways that many of us may not realize. The Eastern Front was where the empires of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the Ottomans collided and ultimately collapsed, giving rise to new states in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. While the Western Front was defined by trench warfare, the Eastern Front was longer and often porous. It shifted back and forth across civilian populations with dramatically transformative effects, impacting lives at the everyday level. In the region, the Great War was inseparable from revolution, undermining imperial allegiances, generating social and national movements, and changing attitudes about gender and authority.

Over the course of the 2015-2016 academic year this series will bring four nationally recognized experts on WWI to Kansas to share original research on everyday life on the Eastern Front. In addition to public lectures, speakers will explore these themes in workshops with undergraduate and graduate students and members of the community.

ORGANIZERS: Nathan Wood, Associate Professor of History; Erik Scott, Assistant Professor of History; and David Stone, Professor, Strategy and Policy, U.S. Naval War College

SPONSORS: KU Common Book, Big XII Faculty Fellowship Program, Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, Center for Global & International Studies, Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, Department of History, Dole Institute of Politics, European Studies Program, Hall Center for the Humanities, Humanities Program, Max Kade Center, Office of Graduate Military Programs, University Honors Program, University Press of Kansas.

This program is part of the University of Kansas Centennial Commemoration of World War I, coordinated by the European Studies Program. Learn more about participating units and upcoming programs at: european.ku.edu/events and kuwwi.com.

Adrienne Landry Dunavin is a member of the Kansas WWI Centennial Commemoration Committee and is the primary administrator of KansasWW1.org. She worked at the KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies as their Outreach Coordinator from 2010-2016. During that time she served on the KU WWI Centennial Commemoration Working Group. She continues to volunteer as a representative for CREES and KU WWI on this blog.