More than 120 historians from dozens of universities will be in Shreveport Thursday for the start of the annual conference of the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era that runs through Saturday.
Set at the Hilton Shreveport Convention Center, it will be the largest humanities conference ever hosted by LSU Shreveport. Associate professor Alexander Mikaberidze specializes in Napoleonic studies. He’s been attending this conference for 16 years, and now he’s organizing one.
“We have almost 90 papers that will be presented on a variety of topics -- American history, Atlantic history, Latin American history, European history -- that are quite diverse,” Mikaberidze said.
Scholars will commemorate 200 years since the fall of Napoleon. They’re topics will zoom in on what happened around the world after his ultimate defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in the summer of 1815.
Mikaberidze says this conference is a homecoming of sorts. He reunites with fellow scholars who’ve become dear friends. He says it’s also welcoming to new faces – history majors who are newcomers to the academic research arena.
“I remember when I was a student there were always jitters and anxiety of going to academic conferences and presenting papers in front of the academe dons and all,” Mikaberidze said. “Here, because it’s relatively small and because we have this friendly atmosphere, it’s very inviting for students to attend and present papers.”
Sessions run through Saturday, Feb. 27, with a final keynote on the Age of the Democratic Revolution by George Mason University emeritus professor Jack Censer.
Sessions are open to the public. The conference is largely funded by the Noel Foundation and the LSUS Foundation.
An opening reception speech on the Allied occupation of France will be delivered by professor Christine Haynes of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
The reception begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25, at LSU Shreveport’s Noel Memorial Library. Haynes’ address begins at 7:15 p.m.
More information is at revolutionaryera.org.Revolutionary era conference piece
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