13 February : 'Imagining the West Indian soldier: from empire to multicultural commemoration' with Richard Smith

The role of the 16,000–strong British West Indies Regiment in the First World War has been recuperated from a marginalised afterthought in accounts of the British imperial war effort to occupy a more central, even symbolic, position in contemporary interpretations of the conflict. This process gained momentum during the recent centenary commemorations in which West Indian participation was remembered across a wide range of media, creative initiatives and community projects. This seminar will explore a variety of historical and contemporary representations of the British West Indies Regiment to consider the extent to which citizenship in multicultural Britain is framed by past imperial military service.