William Blair, Director of the Richards Civil War Era Center and
Professor of American History
114A Pond
814- 863-6356
wab120@psu.edu
"I am a historian of the Civil War era, focusing primarily on the home
front and formation of nations and nationalism in the middle nineteenth century.
My work has focused on the construction of Confederate identity during the war
and the use of ceremonies such as Memorial Days and Emancipation Days after
the war to reinforce and contest political identities. I am currently working
on two book-length projects. The first is a study of the meaning of treason
during and after the Civil War; the second involves a synthesis of work on the
Confederate and Union home fronts as part of a projected series on the sesquicentennial
with the University of North Carolina Press. As director of the Richards Civil
War Era Center, I work with student interns, lead an annual tour for the History
Club, and work with public school teachers as part of a UNESCO program to interpret
the African slave trade and the struggle for freedom in the United States. I
also am the editor of Civil War History, the journal for the field."
Undergraduate Courses Taught
American History to 1865
Survey of the Civil War era
Pennsylvania and the Civil War
The Civil War
Graduate Courses Taught
Seminar in the Civil War Era
Seminar in U.S. Reconstruction
Seminar in Nations and Nationalism
Proseminar, Nineteenth Century
Curriculum Vitae | Return
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