Engaging the Civil War Series Announcement

All of us at Emerging Civil War are proud to announce a new partnership with Southern Illinois University Press. This new partnership has created Engaging the Civil War, a new book series that will tie the rigors of academic history, with the accessibility of public history.

Emerging Civil War co-founders Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., and Kristopher D. White, will serve as series editors, and seven member advisory board will assist with series development. See our full press release below.

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April 26, 2016
For Immediate Release

NEW BOOK SERIES WILL HELP AUDIENCES ENGAGE THE CIVIL WAR

Southern Illinois University Press and Emerging Civil War are collaborating to launch a new book series intended to help readers engage Civil War history in new ways.

Published by Southern Illinois University Press, the Engaging the Civil War series will be edited by Emerging Civil War cofounders Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., and Kristopher D. White. A seven-member advisory board will assist in series development:

  • James J. Broomall, Ph.D., Shepherd University
  • Brian Matthew Jordan, Ph.D., Sam Houston State University
  • Derek Maxfield, Genessee (NY) Community College
  • Kelly D. Mezurek, Ph.D., Walsh University
  • Julie Mujic, Ph.D., Sacred Heart University
  • Terrianne Schulte, Ph.D., D’Youville College
  • Matthew E. Stanley, Ph.D., Albany State University (Georgia)

“I’m very excited about this innovative public history collaboration with Emerging Civil War,” says Barb Martin, director of Southern Illinois University Press. “Our joint series provides a great opportunity to further the Press’s mission to bring scholarship to readers and helps us both expand our reach by merging our two audiences. We look forward to working with the energetic and dedicated editors, Chris Mackowski and Kris White.”

The Engaging the Civil War series adopts the sensibility and accessibility of public history while adhering to the standards of academic scholarship. “We really want to bridge the divide between the Academy and the public,” says Mackowski. “We want to connect wide audiences with emerging ideas, fresh scholarship, and great writers.”

White explains that Southern Illinois University Press makes an ideal home for the new series. “Southern Illinois University Press has such a great reputation and a fantastic catalogue of Civil War books,” White says. “They already have several well-respected series—ones that focus on Lincoln, Grant, and the western theatre—and we thought a series with a real public history focus would fit alongside those nicely.”

According to the mission statement for the Engaging the Civil War series, books will “engage readers and bring them to a new understanding of America’s great story.” Series authors will “draw on insights they gained while working with the public—walking the ground where history happened at battlefields and historic sites, talking with visitors in museums, and educating students in classrooms. With fresh perspectives, field-tested ideas, and in-depth research, volumes in the series connect readers with the story of the Civil War in ways that make history meaningful to them while underscoring the continued relevance of the war, its causes, and its effects.”

Emerging Civil War emphasizes a public-history approach to the Civil War. “It is America’s great story, and we’re committed to helping people connect with it,” White says. “We’re pleased to be working with an academic press that shares our vision and wants to help readers engage with their own history.”

Chris Mackowski, editor-in-chief at Emerging Civil War, is a writing professor in the School of Journalism and Mass communication at St. Bonaventure University. He is co-editor of the Emerging Civil War Series, a collaboration with Savas Beatie, LLC. He has worked as a historian for Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, giving tours of all four of the park’s battlefields as well as the building where Stonewall Jackson died. He also serves as the historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historical property on the Spotsylvania Battlefield.

Kristopher D. White, chief historian at Emerging Civil War, is the editor of the revamped Civil War Regiments Series, a joint venture between ECW and Savas Beatie that offers balanced, in-depth military coverage of all theaters of the American Civil War. He is co-editor of the Emerging Civil War Series. White is also a historian for the Penn-Trafford Recreation Board and a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, PA. For nearly five years, he served as a staff military historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, and for a short time he was a member of the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides at Gettysburg.

Together, Mackowski and White have authored or co-authored fifteen books on the Civil War. Their articles have also appeared in Civil War Times, America’s Civil War, Blue & Gray, Civil War Monitor, and Hallowed Ground.

For more information, contact the editors at emergingcivilwar@gmail.com.

ABOUT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The mission of Southern Illinois University Press is to disseminate knowledge by a diverse authorship for a global readership, to expand the University’s presence in ongoing scholarly dialogue, and to promote understanding of the region’s history and culture. <www.siupress.com>

ABOUT EMERGING CIVIL WAR:

Emerging Civil War serves as a public history-oriented platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War. Its mission is to provide fresh perspectives on America’s defining event. <www.emergingcivilwar.com>

SIU Press Release



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