Tag: Lesley Gordon


Violent History: A Southern Conversation

“Southern Conversations” offers an opportunity for students and professors to discuss broad questions and themes in U.S. Southern History. This semester’s conversation will focus on the topic of violence and how it has informed the historical scholarship and historians of the South. Drs. Lesley Gordon, John Giggie, and Joshua Rothman will serve as faculty participants. All are welcome to attend. This semester’s conversation will take place in the Summersell Room (room 251), ten Hoor Hall, at 5:30 PM, on April […]

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Dr. Gordon’s Civil War Class Tours Vicksburg NMP

On Friday March 3rd, Dr. Lesley Gordon’s Civil War class and UA graduate students visited Vicksburg National Military Park alongside Dr. Susannah Ural of the University of Southern Mississippi, USM graduate students, and UA and USM ROTC Cadets. During the tour, students heard presentations from Dr. Gordon and Dr. Ural as well as graduate students and NPS rangers. Students were able to engage firsthand with the history of the battlefield, the experiences of soldiers in a Civil War campaign, and […]

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Department Host Inaugural Session of Southern Conversations

Last April, students and faculty gathered for the inaugural session of Southern Conversations, a series of informal discussions about southern history and historical methodology that is guided by student questions and interests. The first Conversation’s theme, “Gender Matters,” covered the past, present, and future of gender analysis in southern historical scholarship. Drs. Lesley Gordon, John Giggie, and Julia Brock each gave a short introduction of how gender analysis and their own gendered experiences in academia have shaped their academic careers […]

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Department Alumni and Friends Make Contact, Connections

The University of Alabama Department of History is proud of its many alumni—over 6,000 in all. They can be found around the country and around the world, but many are close to campus, especially in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, and the department has been actively working with young alumni to grow its “Friends of History” program, a network of alumni and supporters who gather to build relationships and enrich their understanding of the past. In addition to a faculty steering committee, […]

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Dr. Megan Kate Nelson Speaks to Writing Workshop

This past February, historian and author Dr. Megan Kate Nelson visited The University of Alabama Department of History virtually, zooming in from her home in Boston to conduct a writing workshop entitled “Writing for Academic and Public Audiences.” In a wide-ranging presentation, Dr. Nelson shared the story of her shift from academic to popular publishing, including an explanation of how to pitch and write an op-ed drawn from her January 7, 2021 Washington Post op-ed. She also outlined the differences […]

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Voices of the Enslaved Wins 2022 Summersell Deep South Book Prize

The Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South and the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at The University of Alabama are proud to announce the winner of the Sixth Biennial Summersell Deep South Book Prize for the best book on the history of the American South: Voices of the Enslaved: Love, Labor, and Longing in French Louisiana (UNC, 2019) by Sophie White, Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Voices of the […]

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Department Hosts Inaugural Session of “Southern Conversations.”

On the evening of April 11, history students and history professors gathered for the inaugural session of Southern Conversations, a series of informal discussions between history students and faculty about southern history. The first Conversation’s theme, “Gender Matters,” covered the past, present, and future of gender analysis in southern scholarship. Everyone started with a delicious meal from Dreamland BBQ. Then, Dr. Lesley Gordon, Dr. John Giggie, and Dr. Julia Brock each gave a short introduction of how gender analysis and […]

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Dr. Lesley Gordon & Students Visit Vicksburg Battlefield

Dr. Lesley Gordon took her Civil War class (HY 315) and UA History grad students on a tour of Vicksburg National Military Park this past March. They were joined by Dr. Susannah Ural and some of her students from the University of Southern Mississippi as well as UA and Southern Mississippi ROTC members. Park rangers and graduate students, such as UA History PhD students Brian Martin and Trace Brusco, co-led the tour. Undergraduate students also presented about the battle at […]

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Dr. Megan Kate Nelson to Host Workshop

Dr. Megan Kate Nelson, writer and historian, will give a virtual graduate workshop on February 17, 2022 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in 251 ten Hoor Hall. Dr. Nelson is the author of The Three-Cornered War (Scribner, 2020) and the forthcoming Saving Yellowstone (Scribner, 2022). Her workshop will focus on the best structure for a dissertation or trade history book, how to pitch and write an op-ed, and how to create a writing practice. Dr. Nelson will address questions from graduate students […]

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2021 Summersell Deep South Book Prize Nominations

The Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South and the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at The University of Alabama are pleased to announce that they are receiving nominations for the 2021 Summersell Deep South Book Prize for the best book on the history of the American South. The author of the prizewinning book will be awarded a $2500 cash prize and be invited to give an address and meet with faculty and students at […]

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Gordon & Brock to Participate in Roundtable on 19th Century Governor’s Papers

On Friday, October 30, Drs. Lesley Gordon and Julia Brock will join scholars from the Filson Historical Society, the Kentucky Historical Society, the University of Southern Mississippi, and George Mason University to discuss the treasure-trove found in nineteenth-century governor’s papers. The Roundtable will explore their efforts to digitize records from this era. The free webinar will be held on Friday, October 30, at 3 PM, CDT. Registration is required, however.

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Sisters and Rebels Named Winner of the 2020 Summersell Prize

The Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South and the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at The University of Alabama are proud to announce the winner of the 2020 Summersell Prize for the best book on the history of the American South: Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle for the Soul of America (W.W. Norton, 2019) by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall. Sisters and Rebels is a masterful study of the three “estranged yet forever entangled” Lumpkin sisters […]

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Dr. Catherine Clinton to Discuss Mental Illness During & After the Civil War

On Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at 12:00 pm, Dr. Catherine Clinton, Denman Chair of American History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, will discuss her past and present academic work, including her new project on Union soldiers and mental illness during and after the Civil War. Previously, Dr. Clinton has served as President of the Southern Historical Association, and she remains on the advisory boards for Civil War History, Civil War Times, The President’s Cottage and Soldier’s Home, and […]

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Noted Civil War Historian Dr. Victoria Bynum to Host Screening of The Free State of Jones

Noted Civil War historian Dr. Victoria Bynum will host a screening of the 2016 film, The Free State of Jones, staring Matthew McConaughey, which was based upon her 2001 work, The Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s Longest Civil War, with a discussion of the film and the real-life events to follow. The screening will take place in 205 Gorgas Library on March 1, 2018, at 3:30 PM. Sponsored by the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History and the College of […]

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Department Attends SHA Convention, Holds Reception Honoring George Rable.

  The Department of History hosted a reception honoring Dr. George C. Rable at the 2017 Southern Historical Association Convention in Dallas, Texas. Rable, the longtime Summersell Chair of Southern History in the department, retired last year. Colleagues, former graduate students, and friends gathered to congratulate Rable on his well-deserved retirement. At the reception, Megan Bever and Laura Mammina announced that a collection of essays honoring Rable is in the works with LSU Press. The collection, edited by Bever, Mammina, […]

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