Annual KISS Lecture 2019 – The Spaces of Modern War

U.S. Army Soldiers, Heavy Company, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, take cover as they hear small arms fire open up in the distance in Mosul, Iraq, on Jan. 17, 2008.

As the relationship between geography, politics and power in conflict zones continues to impact on world news, Professor Derek Gregory will deliver a free talk on modern war at the School.

The talk by Professor Gregory, of the University of British Columbia, takes place on Thursday 14 March at 18.00 in the Templeman Lecture Theatre on the Canterbury campus.

The talk is part of the 2019 annual lecture for the Kent Interdisciplinary Centre for Spatial Studies (KISS) based in the School of Anthropology and Conservation.

Entitled The Spaces of Modern War, the talk will address several factors that have become common place in conflict zones across the world. This will include attempts to remove people from the battlefield via technological innovations and drone warfare, the use of social media to advance a ‘post-truth’ narrative to what is perceived as military violence, and the role of the law in legitimising military violence.

Examples will be drawn from the First and Second World Wars, and from contemporary conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Gaza.

Professor Jim Groombridge, Head of School, said, “This is a very exciting speaker on a subject that will resonate with many as we follow news of conflicts around the world today.”

The talk has been organised as part of the School’s new BSc in Human Geography with the Human Ecology Research Theme and in partnership with the Royal Geographic Society. It is free and open to all: those interested in attending are asked to register online.

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