A century ago, the United States entered the first World War, which eventually led to the allied victory that marked the beginning of a new world.
The Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs and the France/Texas A&M University Institute will be presenting a two-day conference covering the global turning point created in 1917 by World War I at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center on March 1-2. Richard J. Golsan, the director of Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, worked for approximately two years with Andrew Natsios, director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, to make this conference possible.
“When you’re bringing this many scholars from essentially around the country and abroad, they all have very busy schedules,” Golsan said. “So it takes a while to come up with an appropriate date that works for them.”
 This conference will bring a number of international scholars that include specialized historians, of those who focus on law, Europe, and America to discuss 1917 from different aspects. The eight participants include Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, Brett Bowles, Elizabeth Cobbs, Mark E. Grotelueschen, Paul Jankowski, Charlotte Ku, Adam Seipp and Nicholas Werth.
1917 is a crucial year for many reasons, including the United States entering the war, which tilted the balance of the war in the favor of the allies, Golsan said.
“We decided to organize the event as the 100th anniversary of a really critical point in modern world history,” Golsan said.
 Each speaker will focus on a specialty during the conference. Anything from wartime and artifacts to women’s roles during World War I and global order will be pressing topics over the two days. The papers from this event will be published in a special issue of the South Central Review, which can be found online.
“This will be one of the first publications about the year 1917 and the historical impact to appear online,” Golsan said.
This conference will provide the opportunity for raising awareness of historical lessons and draw a connection to the history being made 100 years later.
“I think it’s important for students at A&M to take advantage of opportunities like this,” Golsan said. “Especially since we are living through pretty tumultuous times, and having a good sense of the tumultuousness of history and some of the things we are going to talk about shapes the world like it is today.”
To register for the event or see the set schedule, visit http://glasscock.tamu.edu/programs/wwi-conference.