The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 29th-annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War and Free Expression will be hosted in a virtual format Nov. 11-13 via Zoom. Events are free and open to the general public.
The conference will feature 50 speakers from across the country, many of whom will take part in panel discussions on topics such as 19th century environmentalism, remembering the Northern Plains War, Gone With the Wind, news of the Dakota challenge to settler colonialism, and how women negotiated the journalism industry at the turn of the century.
The event program, schedule and additional information can be found at the symposium’s web page.
“Through the years we have had more than 400 speakers, and we are particularly pleased that many of the early supporters of the conference and leaders of the field of journalism history will be attending the conference this year,” said David B. Sachsman, director of the conference and holder of the George R. West Jr. Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs.
Through submitted papers and panelist participation, more than 35 colleges and universities will be represented at this year’s symposium.
Sachsman said the conference’s goal is to disseminate current research and create a series of tightly focused studies on the 19th century press, the Civil War and the press, and 19th century concepts of free expression. The panel discussions from last year’s symposium were recorded and shown on C-SPAN.
Individuals wishing to register for the conference should email west-chair-office@utc.edu with the following information: name, affiliation, email, cellphone number, Zoom ID (or name as it appears on a computer) and days planning to attend. All registered attendees will be emailed a link to the conference 30 minutes before the first session each day.
The symposium is sponsored by the West Chair of Excellence, the UTC Department of Communication, the Walter and Leona Schmitt Family Foundation Research Fund, and the Hazel Dicken-Garcia Fund for the Symposium.
