Civil War U: The McCormick Civil War Institute at Shenandoah University

Shenandoah University: McCormick Civil War Institute (website)
Jonathan Noyalas, director

Fun Fact: Students in Civil War Era Studies have an opportunity to engage with and learn how to use and develop immersive learning technologies (virtual and augmented realities) as interpretive tools through an ongoing partnership with Shenandoah University’s Center for Immersive Learning.

By Carson Hayek 

WINCHESTER, Va. — Students interested in Civil War history at Shenandoah University study more than just battles. They help interpret history where it took place.

In 2013, the American Battlefield Trust gifted 195 acres of the Cool Spring Battlefield to Shenandoah University. According to Jonathan Noyalas, director of the McCormick Civil War Institute, the gift allows students to develop interpretive skills that are used by thousands of visitors each year.

Additionally, the institute provides education through the Fort Collier Civil War Center on the Third Winchester battlefield, where students develop materials for visitors to the site.

Shenandoah University’s location in Winchester surrounds students with Civil War history. Winchester was a key location of the Civil War: armies fought three battles there, the city was occupied dozens of times by both sides, and it was one of the first locations where President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was enforced.

Noyalas said Winchester gives students unique opportunities. “I have long believed that Winchester and the numerous sites in the Shenandoah Valley allow students to have an opportunity to explore, as part of the program really offers a microcosm of the Civil War’s many facets,” he said. (For more on that topic, see Noyalas’s recent interview on the Emerging Civil War Podcast.)

The program at Shenandoah University consists of 12 credit hours, and students can earn an undergraduate certificate in Civil War-era studies. The program mainly consists of students majoring or minoring in history, although students from other majors have also enrolled.

Outside of classwork, students can apply for paid summer fellowships through the McCormick Civil War Institute. The work done in these fellowships has led to the creation of exhibitions or publications in the McCormick Civil War Institute’s annual Journal of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era.

The McCormick center also holds conferences and programs in the fall and spring semesters, and students have the opportunity to assist with those programs and interact with visiting scholars.

Noyalas believes the university’s unique location and atmosphere help students succeed even beyond their Civil War knowledge.

“While the Civil War era studies program at Shenandoah University aims to prepare students for graduate study in Civil War era history or train them to work at Civil War sites, the components of the program focused on historical memory and historical interpretation are skills that provide a framework for interpreting and understanding other eras in history,” he explained.

Recent alumni have found success working at Gettysburg National Military Park and Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, while others have continued on to graduate studies at George Washington University, Villanova University, and the University of Maryland.

For students looking to specialize in Civil War-era studies, Noyalas encourages students to find a program that offers the right fit. “Programs in Civil War-era studies are usually components of history departments, and I always tell students to go where they feel at home,” Noyalas said. “[Go] where you feel supported, and where you feel like you can flourish.”

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Carson Hayek, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., is a junior journalism student at St. Bonaventure University.

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For a student’s perspective on Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute, Emerging Civil War’s Chris Mackowski spoke with Doa’a Salah. Doa’a is a senior this year at Shenandoah University. The interview was recorded in early summer 2026.