ASU Civil War Series Continues
September 03, 2013
Angelo State University’s Civil War Lecture Series, which is organized by the History Department to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the conflict, will continue in its third year and feature eight events during the 2013-14 academic year.
The series will begin Sept. 17 with a film and discussion on slavery and end April 22 with a presentation on Civil War medicine. Dr. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, a Civil War scholar and coordinator for ASU’s 2013-14 Civil War programs, said the popular lecture series seeks to explore a wide variety of topics to enlighten the public about this complex and tragic period in American history.
In addition to slavery and Civil War medicine, the 2013-14 series will have programs on Civil War politics, Native Americans in the Civil War, Civil War monuments, preservation efforts at Palmito Ranch Battlefield in Texas and the Civil War origins of baseball.
The first program in the 2013-14 series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, with a screening and discussion of the PBS film “Prince Among Slaves,” which tells the story of African Prince Abd al Rahman Ibrahima, who was sold into the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1788 and brought to the United States. The screening in the C.J. Davidson Conference Center in the Houston Harte University Center will be followed by a discussion on the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Wongsrichanalai and Dr. John Klingemann, both of ASU’s History Department.
Other programs and speakers in the series are:
- Oct. 16: “Lincoln, His Party and Civil War Era Politics,” 7 p.m., Davidson Center, Houston Harte University Center, Drs. Tony Bartl, Matthew Gritter and Deanna J. Watts of ASU’s Department of Political Science and Philosophy.
- Nov. 14: “Trails of Blood: Escaping the Confederacy,” 7 p.m., Davidson Center, Dr. Lorien Foote of the Texas A&M History Department. This lecture is co-sponsored by ASU’s Gender Studies Program with additional funding support from Dr. Paul K. Swets, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
- Jan. 28: “The Environment of War,” 7 p.m., Davidson Center, Drs. Kenna Archer and Jason Pierce of ASU’s History Department.
- Feb. 17: “Memory and Meaning: Civil War Memorials and Their Artistic Antecedents,” 7 p.m., Davidson Center, Dr. Kimberly Busby of ASU’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
- March 4: “The Texas Historical Commission’s Sesquicentennial Activities,” 7 p.m., Davidson Center, William McWhorter, program coordinator, Military Sites Program, History Programs Division, Texas Historical Commission.
- March 27: “Baseball and the Civil War,” Bob Bluthardt, site manager, Fort Concho, and Dr. David Dewar of ASU’s History Department. This event will begin with a 6 p.m. 19th century-style baseball game on the Fort Concho parade grounds and conclude with 7 p.m. lectures in the Fort Concho Stables. The game and lectures are being supported by the Fort Concho Foundation.
- April 22: “Medicine and the Civil War,” 7 p.m., Davidson Center, Dr. Robert Hicks, Measey Chair for the History of Medicine and director of the Mutter Museum and Historical Medical Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. This event is being sponsored by the Fort Concho Foundation and Shannon Medical Center with additional support from a grant to the West Texas Collection by the Civil War 150 program, presented by the Library of America in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In addition to the Department of History, the Civil War Lecture Series is supported by Fort Concho; the Office of the ASU Dean of Arts and Sciences; ASU’s Gender Studies Program; the West Texas Collection; the Porter Henderson Library; Shannon Medical Center; the Texas Historical Commission; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Library of America; and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.