Sir David Cannadine gave a keynote address on Tuesday evening entitled ‘The Construction of National Identities’. Sir David looked at the wartime memoirs of Charles de Gaulle, focusing on the view that the nation is the most significant focus of collective human identity. He examined the evidence for and against and explored the part that historians have played in the creation and undermining of national identities.
Professor Linda Colley spoke on Wednesday afternoon at the Festival on ‘Asserting Identity, Writing Constitutions: Britain, America and Australia'. Professor Colley explained that since the drafting of the American Constitution in 1787, written constitutions are increasingly viewed as an essential symbol of the modern state. Linda examined America and Britain and considered the impact on Australia, where constitutional imaginings and projects have been influenced by the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Festival considered how national identities have become a source of conflict and tension in the world. It brought together a group of leading scientists, historians, writers, public affairs commentators, art historians and artists.
Sir David Cannadine is the Whitney J Oates Senior Research Scholar within the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University. He is also a history lecturer and author working within the university.
Professor Linda Colley is a leading historian of Britain, empire and nationalism. She is currently Shelby MC Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University.
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