AMHERST, N.Y. – The legacy of World War I will be explored through historical and artistic presentations at the “Death of Empires” conference, which coincides with the centennial anniversary of the war, scheduled for Sept. 19 at Daemen College. 

Dr. Robert Blobaum, a noted historian on 20^th century Poland, will give the keynote address on “The Collapse of Empires: The View From Warsaw,” at 1 p.m. in the Wick Campus Center Social Room.

Blobaum, who is the Eberly Family Distinguished Professor of Modern European History at West Virginia University, has authored several books and dozens of articles on the history of Poland in the 20^th century. Recipient of the Oskar Halecki Prize for the best book on Polish history, his forthcoming book will focus on life in Warsaw during WWI.

Conference presentations are organized into panel sessions that will take place from 8:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Scholars from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Israel will share their research on a range of topics, including British and American women’s WWI fiction, historical perspectives on the war in various countries, Belgium and its colony during the war, and the beginning of a new world order. The presentations will address the impact of the fragmentation of the global imperial systems and examine the ways the war has been remembered.

“The Rose That Grows in No Man’s Land,” a theatrical reading of women’s wartime writing, will be presented by Josephine Hogan, Laura Mikolajczyk and Jessica Wegrzy of Buffalo’s Red Thread Theatre Company from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Wick Center Alumni Lounge. The staged reading of letters and diary entries penned by women during WWI will offer a look at the war from the home front, hospitals of France and ships at sea, and provide insight on the ways the roles and rights of women transformed during the war.

As part of the conference, an exhibit featuring 50 watercolors by Nikifor, an internationally acclaimed naïve (primitive) painter, will be on display through Oct. 2 in Daemen’s Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Gallery in the Haberman Gacioch Arts Center. The college is the first venue of a three-city U.S. tour of the artist’s remarkable works.

Also, “Little Empires: Toy Soldiers During the Great War (1914-1918,)” an exhibit of toy soldiers made during WWI in Germany, Britain, France and the U.S., will be on display through Sept. 30 in the college’s Research and Information Commons lobby.

The conference, which is free and open to the public, is being hosted by the Daemen History and Political Science, English, and Visual and Performing Arts Departments. It is being sponsored by Collegiate Village, with additional support from the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo.

More information is available by emailing empires.conference@daemen.edu.