Image from Symposium Poster, available here online.
The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era cordially invites you to attend the 7th Annual Symposium on New Interpretations of the American Civil War, titled Alternative Southern Realities: African Americans and the American Civil War. The meetings will be held at Kennesaw State University, on March 19–21, 2010. The symposium is open to the public. Regular registration is $25.
The symposium will explore categorical themes of enslavement, abolitionism, resistance, freedom, memory, identity, soldiering, and battlefield tactics and strategies. Distinguished national and international scholars will present innovative and relevant Civil War era research in anthropology, American Studies, African American Studies, battlefield archaeology, medical history, military history, and social history.
Speakers
The keynote speaker is John Vlach, professor of American Studies and Anthropology at George Washington University. His expertise lies in material culture, folklore, and the African Diaspora. He has published several books, including Back of the Big House: The Architecture of Plantation Slavery, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, and The Planter’s Prospect: Privilege and Slavery in Plantation Paintings. He has served as guest curator and consultant to numerous museums for the past thirty years. He has developed exhibitions for art museums, historical societies and libraries from coast to coast including the National Museum of American History and the Library of Congress.
Other notable presenters include Erskine Clarke (Columbia Theological Seminary), Allison Dorsey (Swarthmore College), and Margaret Humphreys (Duke University), Gregory Mixon (University of North Carolina-Charlotte), Thavolia Glymph (Duke University), David S. Reynolds (CUNY/Baruch College), Charmayne Patterson (Kennesaw State University), Samuel Livingston (Morehouse University), Patricia Davis (Georgia State University), Garrett Silliman (Edward Pittman Environmental, Inc., and an SGA member), and James Yancey (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library).
Symposium events
Additional symposium events include a demonstration by the 54th Massachusetts Reenactment Regiment, Co. I (Charleston, SC) at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, a performance by the Georgia Spiritual Ensemble, and optional tours, i.e. African American Heritage Tour or the Atlanta History Center Tour of the Turning Point Civil War Exhibit.
Symposium sponsors and supporters
This symposium is sponsored through a joint partnership with Kennesaw State University’s Center for the Study of the Civil War Era, National Park Service/Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and the Georgia Humanities Council. Co-conveners and supporters include Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American History and Culture, The Atlanta History Center, Stevan Crew Associates, Old Zion Baptist Church Museum, Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network, Historic Mable House, and the City of Acworth.
Registration
Click here to go to the Symposium web page, where you can download the Civil War Symposium Program Booklet and the Symposium Poster. You can register by clicking here.
For additional information, go to the Symposium web page or call 678.797.2551.
Posted online on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010