The International Conference on World War II is the premier adult educational event bringing together the best and brightest scholars, authors, historians, and witnesses to history from around the globe to discuss key battles, personalities, strategies, issues, and controversies of the war that changed the world. Joining the featured speakers are hundreds of attendees who travel from all over the world to learn and connect with each other through engaging discussions, question-and-answer periods, book signings, and receptions throughout the weekend.
Pre-Conference Symposium: "Finding Hope in a World Destroyed: WWII Liberations & Legacies"
Europe in the Rubble
- Chair: Jason Dawsey
- “Soviet Judgement at Nuremberg”: Francine Hirsch
- “After Nuremberg: American Clemency for Nazi War Criminals”: Robert Hutchinson
- “Rebuilding the Old World: The Marshall Plan”: Günter Bischof
Aftermath in Asia
- Chair: John Curatola
- “The War That Never Really Ended: WWII’s Long Legacy”: Rana Mitter
- “Justice in Asia and the Pacific Region, 1945-1952: Allied War Crimes Prosecutions”: Yuma Totani
- “Japan’s Decade After Defeat: Occupation and Democratization”: Yoshikuni Igarashi
Annual Pearl Harbor 82nd Anniversary Public Commemoration
The Baptist Community Ministries Faith in Wartime Panel
A New World Order and US Postwar Responsibilities
- Chair: William Hitchcock
- “The United Nations: Establishment and Impact”: Blanche Wiesen Cook
- “From Ally to Superpower: America’s Role in the World”: Jeremi Suri
- “A Consumer’s Republic: America’s Postwar Boom”: Lizabeth Cohen
We Shall Overcome: From Wartime Service to Social Change
- Chair: Krewasky Salter, Pritzker Military Museum & Library
- “From GIs to Foot Soldiers: Black Veterans as Civil Rights Activists”: Marcus Cox
- “Women’s Postwar Roles at Home, in the Workplace and the Military”: Kara Dixon Vuic
- “Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation”: David Davis
Thursday, December 7, 2023
The 16th International Conference on World War II
Opening Session
Rethinking World War II
- Jeremy Black in conversation with Robert Citino
Friday, December 8, 2023
Nimitz and His Commanders: Leadership in the PTO
- Chair: Richard B. Frank
- “Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay”: Craig Symonds
- “Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific”: Trent Hone
In the Rubble: A Roundtable Discussion
- Moderator: Allan R. Millett with Keith Lowe and Ronald Spector
To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945
- John McManus in conversation with Conrad Crane
Our War Too!
- Chair: Steph Hinnershitz
- “Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II”: Catherine Musemeche
- “Last Ace in a Day: Lt. Oscar Perdomo”: Dave Gutierrez
- “Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific”: Bruce Henderson
The Legacies of the Second World War
- Presentation and panel discussion with Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller, PhD, William Hitchcock, and Jeremi Suri
Museum Open House
Saturday, December 9, 2023
Forgotten Heroes
- Chair: John Morrow Jr
- “Battling While Black – General Patton’s Heroic African American WWII Battalions”: Major General Peter Gravett
- “The Men of Montford Point”: Cameron McCoy
Monuments Men and Women Across the World: WWII and Today
- Robert Edsel
Mass Murder and Memory in Eastern Europe
- Chair: Alexandra Richie
- Wendy Lower
- Omer Bartov
Dauntless: The Life of C. Paul Hilliard, USMC (ret.)
- WWII veteran Paul Hilliard in conversation with Robert Citino
Closing Banquet and Presentation
Masters of the Air: A Roundtable Conversation
- Chair: Kirk Saduski
- Donald L. Miller
- John Orloff
