Gateways to the First World War

The team covered the following areas of expertise:

• Memorials, commemoration and memory
• Life on the Home and Fighting Fronts
• The medical history of the First World War
• Wartime propaganda and popular culture
• Maritime and naval history

Since 2014, the Centre encouraged and supported public interest in the centenary of the First World War through a range of events and activities such as open days and study days, advice on access to materials and expertise, and signposting for other resources and forms of support.

Gateways also worked on a range of creative and artistic responses to the First World War centenary, including theatrical and musical pieces, and performances of rediscovered First World War plays.

The Centre was run by a team of specialists in the First World War, including Professor Lucy Noakes from the Department of History, University of Essex. Gateways is managed by the University of Kent in partnership with the Universities of Essex, Portsmouth and Leeds, and has close links with organisations such as the Imperial War Museum, National Maritime Museum, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.