The Western Front Association is delighted to have partnered with the University of Kent to produce The Imperial Forces on the Western Front: A Comprehensive Study, a new online course. Hosted on the FutureLearn platform, this new course explores the involvement and impact of Imperial forces in key Western Front battles during the First World War.
Follow this link to find out more and enrol > https://bit.ly/ImperialWesternFront
After enrolling on the course, learners will be guided through sessions on mobilisation and deployment, recruitment and conscription, imperial forces in battle, discipline and morale, commemoration and many more. The course covers the Australian, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand, and South African experience of warfare on the Western Front. Why and how they fought, how they were and are still perceived, and how they are remembered.
Many of the sessions include reading material, podcasts and YouTube videos produced by The WFA. Furthermore, many of the bespoke videos made for the course were filmed on the battlefields of Flanders.
Dr Mario Draper, Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent, is the principal developer of the course. Of the course Mario said:
‘Through the close collaboration between History at the University of Kent and The WFA, we’ve managed to bring to the learners some cutting edge insights about the Imperial dimension of the Great War from the heart of the Western Front battlefields themselves.’
Appearing in many of the course videos is a face familiar to many WFA members, Professor Mark Connelly, on the course Mark said: ‘The contribution of the British Empire to the war effort between 1914 and 1918 was immense. Through this innovative collaboration with the Western Front Association, we have created a fascinating new way to engage with this topic.'
The course material can be accessed for free. In this instance, the material is released to learners weekly.
FutureLearn also has subscription options available for those who wish to take their time over the course and also earn themselves a certificate upon completion.
WFA Universities Trustee Adam Prime said:
‘Many WFA members have completed degrees and masters degrees over the years but such detailed study might not be for everyone. I am delighted we have been able to work with the History Department at the University of Kent to create a short, introductory level course that offers learners the latest insights into the British Empire and the First World War in manageable chunks. The materials which Mario and his team have been able to create specifically for the MOOC are fantastic. I am also very proud of the amount of WFA material that they been able to include. I believe this speaks to the quality and depth of the association’s own work.’
Find out more here > https://bit.ly/ImperialWesternFront