Friday, April 11, 2008
4:30 pm - 7:00 pm:
Registration

5:30 pm:
Virginia Tech History Department Reception
* While conference participants are not required to come, you are welcome to attend.

7:00 pm - 8:30 pm:
Keynote Address by Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue, University of Pennsylvania

Saturday, April 12, 2008
8:00 am:
Registration

8:30 am - 9:45 am:
PANEL A:
Classical Legacies in Medieval and Early Modern Europe

"Veritatis Romanitas: Seeking Roman Culture in 6th and 7th Century Western Europe," David Heayn, Villanova University

"The Ambition and Inheritance of Florence: The Development of Civic Humanism and Its Expression in Italian Literature," Michael Lejman, University of Memphis

Comments: Dr. Matthew Gabriele, Virginia Tech

PANEL B:
Race and Society: Africa and its Transatlantic Influence

"Slavery and Society in the Cape Colony, South Africa," Lauren Marshall, Virginia Commonwealth University

"Africana Womanism as a Vehicle of Empowerment and Influence," Janiece Blackmon, Virginia Tech

Comments: Dr. Brett Shadle, Virginia Tech

10:00 am - 11:30 am:
PANEL C:
Cultural and Diplomatic Perspectives on the Global Cold War

"Leap to Freedom: Ballet in the Cold War and the Cultural Triumph of the U.S.," Whitney Tarella, George Washington University

"The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War: A Reappraisal," Archer Allen Montague III, North Carolina State University

Comments: Dr. Amy Nelson, Virginia Tech

PANEL D:
From Politics to Projectiles: Science and Technology in History

"Chemical Diplomacy and Its Ill Effects on U.S. Political Relations," Neil Oatsvall, North Carolina State University

"Things That Fly Around and Eventually Explode: Sir William Congreve's Rockets and British Technological Culture in the Early Nineteenth Century," Sam Thomason, Virginia Tech

"Common Descent and the Anthropocentric Response: Simian Iconography During the Scopes Monkey Trial," Abe Gibson, Virginia Tech

Comments: Dr. Mark Barrow, Virginia Tech

PANEL E:
Sanctuaries of Power: Religion in American History

"The Quest for Health: Christianity and the Body in Southern Baptist Daily Vacation Bible Schools," Joanna Lile, University of Kentucky

"Congregational Strategies for Negotiating Clerical Authority in Eighteenth-Century New England," Janice Wood, University of Kentucky

"Urban Renewal and Community Resistance in Richmond, VA: The Case of Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church," Tim Van Schaick, James Madison University

Comments: Dr. A. Roger Ekirch, Virginia Tech

11:30 am - 12:30 pm:
Luncheon

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm:
Afternoon Address by Dr. Kathryn Barrett-Gaines, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

2:00 pm - 3:45 pm:
PANEL F:
Striving for Betterment: Social Reform in American History

"'To Take the Calculated Risk': Overcoming Disability as Definition in the Independent Living Movement, 1962-1972," Emily Beeson, James Madison University

"A Historical and Historiographical Reappraisal of the Common School Movement in Burke County, North Carolina, 1853-1861," Geoffrey Harris, North Carolina State University

"Appalshop Genesis: The War on Poverty, Regional Identity, and Film in Appalachia," Catherine Herdman, University of Kentucky

Comments: Dr. Marian Mollin, Virginia Tech

PANEL G:
Old South, New South: Interpretations of White Southern Identity in an Age of Transformation

"'They Aim to Take your Land': How White Southerners Used Rumor to Influence Cherokee Removal in the Early Nineteenth Century," Tracey Birdwell, University of Delaware

"'The Only Georgian True, That Knows How to Get up a Barbecue': John. W. Callaway and the Making of a New South Celebrity," Tyson Smith, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

"A ‘Blacking Party’: Race and White Manhood at the University of North Carolina, 1901-1920," Brittany Lewis, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Comments: Professor Regan Shelton, Virginia Tech

PANEL H:
Cultivating Nationhood: Crises in the Early American Republic

"James Wilson’s Constitution," Michael Taylor, James Madison University

"Commanding Requests: Women’s Petitions and the Gender Politics of the American South, 1830-1860," Robert Murray, Virginia Tech

"'A Fight to the Bitter End': Chivalry, Honor, Duty, and the Dilemma of Southern Defeat," David Bobbitt, George Mason University

Comments: Dr. Daniel Thorp, Virginia Tech

3:50 pm - 4:00 pm:
Awards and Closing Remarks

[The schedule of events above is subject to change.]