Athens, Ga. – University of Richmond president Edward L. Ayers will present the 2013 Gregory Distinguished Lecture on Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. in the University of Georgia Chapel. Ayers’ talk on “What Was Gettysburg, Anyway?” is free and open to the public.
An historian of the American South and president and professor of history at the University of Richmond, Ayers is an expert in Civil War era history and a pioneer in digital approaches to historical pedagogy and scholarship. His books include “Promise of the New South” (1992), a Pulitzer and National Book Award finalist; and “In the Presence of Mine Enemies” (2004), winner of the Bancroft Prize. The co-host of public radio program and podcast “BackStory with the American History Guys,” Ayers received the 2012 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in a July 10 ceremony at the White House East Room.
In addition to his lecture, Ayers will spend time at UGA as a visiting scholar in the department of history, hosting a seminar for graduate students as well as consulting on the new Digital Humanities Initiative.
“Dr. Ayers is a pioneering figure in both Civil War era studies and digital humanities, areas of deep interest to the department and our university,” said Stephen Berry, the Amanda and Greg Gregory Professor of the Civil War Era and co-director of UGA Center for Virtual History. “As his accomplishments and involvements attest, he has been extremely successful at making history engaging to the public.”
The annual Gregory Distinguished Lecturer program is supported by the Amanda and Greg Gregory Graduate Studies Enhancement Fund in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
Ayers’ lecture will serve as the keynote address to the Third Biennial “UnCivil Wars” Conference sponsored by the history department and the Watson-Brown Foundation, held every two years at the T.R.R. Cobb House.
For more information on the UGA department of history, see http://history.uga.edu/.