June 30, 2020

Speakers have now been announced for the 37th International Churchill Conference, which  will be held online this fall on 23 and 24 October. While the conference will be based in Britain and include several live sessions, there will also be pre-recorded material from various locations around the world. For the first time, the International Churchill Society will be able to showcase its global membership in a unique way. Registration information will be announced later this summer.

We have a fantastic range of speakers confirmed. Appropriately, the overall theme will be “Churchill: Leadership in Adversity.” Former Prime British Prime Minister Sir John Major will be featured in conversation with former Foreign Secretary Lord Hague. Experienced broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby will chair a panel discussion on Churchill’s relevance today. The panel includes historian Professor Andrew Roberts, Rear Admiral Dr. Chris Parry, and Dr. Karin von Hippel, Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute.

From Chartwell, Katherine Carter will introduce the refurbished painting studio, and Dr. Barry Phipps and Paul Rafferty will explore Churchill’s painting and how it helped him in his darkest hours. Other speakers will include Professor David Reynolds and Catherine Katz. From North America there will be sessions from America’s National Churchill Museum at Westminster College and the National Churchill Library and Center at George Washington University. An engaging interactive quiz and other interactive elements will also be featured.

Conference sessions will begin at 2:00 PM BST on both Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th. This will be 9 am in the Eastern time zone of North America and 6 am in the Pacific time zone. There will be approximately 4–5 hours of programming each day. Further details will be reported here in the Churchill Bulletin each month as we approach the conference dates.