MACS HISTORY DEPARTMENT VISIT TO CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
A group of 40 Year 9 pupils from MACS took part in a World War One Conference in Cardiff on Friday 19th May. Cardiff University’s ‘School of History, Archaeology and Religious Studies’ have been running a Heritage Lottery Fund project called ’Views of an Antique Land: Imaging Egypt and Palestine in the First World War’. Pupils from MACS were invited to attend lectures and displays on this topic from academic staff at Cardiff including Professor Paul Nicholls and Dr Steve Mills. The pupils were also given two hands-on workshops from WWI re-enactors dealing with uniforms, equipment and weapons from WWI.
Later in the day there was a tour of the Conservation Department to examine how staff at Cardiff are restoring and repairing items such as an Egyptian coffin lid that has been dated to some 2500 years ago. There was also the opportunity for our pupils to design World War One-style postcards based on the images and presentations seen earlier in the day. Our pupils’ work was then used to create a display ahead of talks given by visiting academics who were giving lectures at the conference on Friday evening and throughout Saturday.
The visit was a real success as it helped to change our pupils’ perceptions about what WWI was like and where it was fought. The History Department at MACS was delighted with the fact that our pupils were the only ones from any school to take part in this unique event.
