Narrative & Nostalgia Conference 2019

Schedule & Registration

Registration now open!

If you'd like to register for the conference, please email Prof. Matthew Gabriele.

We have a limited number of spaces available for non-presenters.

Tentative Schedule

Spray-painted statue of Robert E. Lee, Richmond, VAImage via RVAMag.com

Friday March 29

12-1pm - Begin Registration


1-1:15pm - Welcome (Dr. Matthew Gabriele)


1:15-2:45pm - Session "Civil War Nostalgia in the Later 19th Century"

Moderator: Dr. Paul Quigley (VT)

    • "Calvinist Crusaders in Virginia: Jackson and McClellan, Milroy and Hunter, 1862-64"
      • Dr. John H. Matsui (VMI)
    • "Nurturing 'The Daisy in the South': Poetic Landscape and Civil War Memory"
      • Kristen Hixon (Charleston Southern)
    • "Confederate Historiography: Writing History from Freeman to Woodward"
      • Robert C. Baumgartner (Triton Regional HS)


Break


3:15-4:45pm - Roundtable "Sh** Academics Say (at UNC): The Impact of Academic Discourse Surrounding Silent Sam on Students of Color and Student Activism"

    • Cortland Gilliam (Doctoral Student in Education - Cultural Studies and Literacies at UNC-Chapel Hill)
    • Blaque Robinson (Doctoral Student in the Department of Sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill)
    • Jennifer Standish (Ph.D. Student in the Department of History at UNC-Chapel Hill)
    • Courtney Staton (Former Campus Y Co-President, Journalism and Psychology Major at UNC-Chapel Hill)


Break


5:15-6:45pm - Session "Crusade Nostalgia in the Later Middle Ages"

Moderator: Dr. Susanna Throop (Ursinus)

    • "Defying Expectations: Dubays b. Ṣadaqa (fl. 1108-35) in the Crusading Era"
      • Dr. Eric Hanne (Florida Atlantic Univ.)
    • "Books and the Postponement of History in 12th-Century Flanders"
      • Dr. Brad Phillis (Gardner-Webb)
    • "Place Out of Time: The A-Chronicity of Jerusalem and the Crusades in Roger of Wendover’s Flores Historiarum"
      • Anna Lukyanova (UNC-Chapel Hill)


Reception for Registered Participants

(Dinner on Own)

Spray-painted statue of Joan of Arc, Bordeaux, France

Saturday March 30

8-9am - Continental Breakfast


9-10:15am - Keynote

"The Romance of Reconstruction: W.E.B. Du Bois' Dark Matter"

Prof. Matthew X Vernon (UC Davis)


Break


10:30-12pm - Session "Medievalism in the 21st Century"

Moderator: Dr. Shaily Patel (VT)

    • "The Challenge of Authenticity: Legacies of 20th-Century Crusade Historiography in the New Millennium"
      • Jordan Amspacher (UT-Knoxville)
    • "The White Ages: White Supremacists and Nostalgic Medievalism"
      • Dr. David Perry (Minnesota)
    • "Engaging the Crusades in Context: The Ethics of Historical Work in 2019"
      • Dr. Susanna Throop (Ursinus)


12-1:30pm - Lunch for All Registered Attendees


1:30-3pm - Session "Issues On/ Around College Campuses"

Moderator: Dr. Lee Vinsel (VT)

    • "How Historical Research Changed the World (or At Least a Building Name)"
      • Dr. Adam Domby (College of Charleston)
    • "The Immortal, Fraternal Confederacy: The Knights of the Lost Cause on Campus"
      • Dr. Taulby Edmondson (VT)


Break

3:30-5pm - Session "Comparative Thoughts: Crusades & Civil War"

Moderator: Dr. David Perry (Minnesota)

    • "Widening the Lens"
      • Dr. C.L. Higham (UNC-Charlotte)
    • "The ‘Lost Cause’ and the ‘Beautiful Society’: Problematic Nostalgia in the Defeated Souths"
      • Dr. Thomas Lecaque (Grand View)
    • "Crusade and Confederacy: Lost Causes"
      • Dr. Christopher Riedel (Albion)


Break

5:30-7pm - Concluding Roundtable "Teaching These Topics in a Time of White Supremacy"

Moderator: Dr. Matthew Gabriele (VT)

    • Dr. Christine Baker (Indiana Univ-PA)
    • Dr. Willa Brown (Harvard)
    • Dr. Rebecca Hill (UCLA)
    • Dr. John Terry (Westminster Schools)


(Dinner on Own)

Conference generously sponsored by Virginia Tech's Dept. of Religion & Culture, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, Center for the Humanities, the Women & Minority Artist Lecture Series, and the Depts. of English, History, and Political Science.