February 26, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

George Mason contact:                                                Commission contact:

Michele McDonald                                                      Cheryl Jackson

(703) 993-8781                                                                       (804) 786-3591, ext. 276

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George Mason to host Civil War 150 Signature Conference in May

Registration is open

FAIRFAX—The American Civil War in a Global Context is the focus of a conference that will be held on Saturday, May 31, 2014, at the Center for the Arts on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. Dr. Peter N. Stearns, Provost and Professor of History at George Mason University, will chair the program, which is the sixth installment in the highly-acclaimed annual Signature Conference series sponsored by the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. Registration for the conference is now open.

Historians of international acclaim will discuss the impact of the Civil War in areas ranging from the global cotton trade, to international abolition efforts, to changes in the future of military operations, to the implications of the Civil War as one of the first wars fought in an industrial age.

This program provides the opportunity to look at the Civil War through a different lens. The Civil War was an intense conflict within the United States, but it was also an international event in many ways. Considering it from a global perspective provides a number of surprising and unexpected connections between the Civil War and the wider world.

Registration fee is $15 (conference only) or $25 (conference and lunch). Advance registration will be open until May 1 or when capacity is reached. For more information and online registration, visit www.VirginiaCivilWar.org or call (804) 786-3591.

A number of special tours and lectures to complement the Signature Conference weekend are being planned by local partners including the Civil War Sesquicentennial Committees from Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax.

The Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission was created by the General Assembly to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Virginia. In addition to the Signature Conference series, the Commission sponsors programs that include the award-winning Civil War 150 HistoryMobile exhibit, a major gallery exhibition curated in

partnership with the Virginia Historical Society, a statewide document digitization program, and an Emmy-nominated documentary.

George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., Mason provides students access to diverse cultural experiences and the most sought-after internships and employers in the country. Mason offers strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering and information technology, organizational psychology, health care and visual and performing arts. With Mason professors conducting groundbreaking research in areas such as climate change, public policy and the biosciences, George Mason University is a leading example of the modern, public university. George Mason University—Where Innovation Is Tradition.

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Technical advisory: High resolution images from previous Signature Conferences and other programs from the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission can be downloaded from: http://www.virginiacivilwar.org/press/imagelibrary.php