Professor Connors Lecture, “World War I: A Centennial Perspective,” Wed, Oct. 8, 3 p.m.

Seton Hall University Professor Emeritus Richard Connors will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I with a lecture Wed., Oct. 8, 3 p.m. in the Walsh Library Archives Reading Room on the South Orange campus. “World War I: A Centennial Perspective,” will explore the military and geopolitical ramifications of the Great War that was supposed to be “the war to end all wars.” The public is invited to the free lecture.
“Historians see World War I as the defining event of the 20th century. It destroyed four empires and marked the end of a Europe-centered world,” said Connors. “What emerged were a new perspective and a new reality – a world society, a global economy, a world politics. When we think of the 20th century – of the U.S. and Japan as world powers, of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, of World War II and the Cold War, of Middle East and Balkan crises – the seeds go back to 1914-19.”
In conjunction with his lecture, Connors’ collection of World War I models, maps, books, posters and pictures are on exhibit at the Msgr. William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center in the University library.
We are pleased to have Dr. Connors bring his knowledge of World War I to Seton Hall and share his personal collection with us. A natural story-teller, his talk will generate interest in a war which saw “so many people die for so little reason” – a war which changed how wars are fought and how we see our country and our world. “Our personal and cultural perspectives are largely shaped by our history,” he said. “That’s why it is so important to revisit it regularly.”