Skip to Main content

ASU Civil War Lecture Series to Examine Counter-Insurgency

November 08, 2011

The Angelo State University lecture series commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War will explore the guerilla and irregular warfare of the time and its applications to today during a presentation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, on the ASU campus.

“Guerilla Warfare, Counter-Insurgency and the Lessons of the Civil War” will feature presentations by Dr. Kenneth J. Heineman, head of ASU’s History Department, on “General Thomas Ewing Jr. and the Missouri Borderlands,” and Dr. Robert S. Ehlers Jr., director of ASU’s Center for Security Studies, on “Aftermath: The Truisms, Continuities and Discontinuities of Irregular Warfare.” The presentation will be moderated by Col. Mike Buck, former head of the Aerospace Studies Department at ASU.

The lecture is open free to the public in the C.J. Davidson Conference Center in the Houston Harte University Center at 1910 Rosemont. The program is the third of seven public presentations that will address various aspects of the Civil War during the 2011-12 academic year.

The Civil War speaker series is jointly sponsored by multiple ASU departments, including the History Department, Center for Security Studies, West Texas Collection, Multicultural Center and Air Force ROTC, as well as Fort Concho and the Concho Valley Civil War Roundtable, to commemorate the watershed even in American history.

Heineman said Angelo State’s “Civil War 150th Commemoration Discussion Series” will continue through April with ASU and local historians addressing various topics related to Civil War personalities, events and ramifications. All programs are scheduled at either ASU’s Davidson Center or in the Fort Concho Commissary.

Other presentations in the Civil War series will be:

?“Virtual Staff Ride of the Gettysburg Battlefield,” 7 p.m. Jan. 24, Davidson Center; Orientation Leader of the Staff Ride: Dr. Bill Taylor; Discussants: Dr. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, “Day 2 – Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain,” and Dr. Bruce Bechtol, “Day 3 – George Pickett;” Moderator: Dr. Maurice Fortin.

?“Emancipation, 1862,” 2 p.m. Feb 12, Fort Concho Commissary; Panelists: Dr. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, “The Abolitionist Stance,” and Dr. David Dewar, “The Moderate Republican View;” Moderator: Joe Muñoz.

?“Civil War/Total War,” 7 p.m. March 20, Fort Concho Commissary; Panelists: Cory Robinson, “Before San Angelo, Benjamin Grierson Dropped by on Mississippi,” and Dr. Kenneth Heineman: “William Tecumseh Sherman Demonstrated that War is Hell;” Moderator: Dr. Robert Ehlers.

?“A New Birth of Freedom: The Post-Civil War World,” 7 p.m. April 17, Davidson Center; Roundtable: Dr. John Klingemann, “Mexico, 1910,” Dr. Joe Zheng, “China, 1911” and Dr. Rob Nalbandov, “Georgia, 1989;” Moderator: Dr. Kenneth Heineman.

Heineman said the goal of the lecture series is to engage the community in reflection on the Civil War and its impact, even on contemporary society. He said the lecture series would also be a learning experience for secondary school teachers and their students.