Congratulations to Steve Soper, whose has been awarded the Society for Italian Historical Studies Marraro prize for the best book in Italian history in 2013! Soper previously took First Prize in the 18th-19th C category of the American Association of Italian Studies Book Award for his book, Building a Civil Society: Associations, Public Life, and the Origins of Modern Italy (U Toronto, 2013).

Maggie Neel will take the oral comprehensive examination in the Conference Room, LeConte Hall. The Major Professor is Dr. Akela Reason. All members of the university faculty are invited. If you wish to attend please contact the graduate program office at history@uga.edu to ensure adequate seating.

On Saturday, October 25, ten members of Sam McGuire’s Civil War class took part in a voluntary field trip to Chickamauga National Military Park. Chief park historian, Jim Ogden provided a four-hour educational program and guided tour of the battlefield. Jacob McClendon recalled the tour “made me proud to be a History major” and that “going to the battlefield was a chance to come as close to reliving the actual battle” as possible.

Dr. Bart Elmore is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama. His book, Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism, is forthcoming from W. W. Norton. In this new book Elmore explores Coke through its ingredients, showing how the company secured massive quantities of coca leaf, caffeine, sugar, and other inputs. Its growth was driven by shrewd leaders, bringing jobs and development to every corner of the globe. Details.

  Ruth Fisher is the first recipient of the History Department's new Undergraduate Study Abroad Scholarship. Ruth already has plans to work on an internship in D.C. while she is in Washington and talks about her proposed trip -- "I am a senior History Major at the University of Georgia, with a passion for politics and law. I have been a member of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women since 2011, and have sat on the standards board since my freshman year.

Marvin Chiles will defend his doctoral dissertation, " An Honest Conversation About Race: Racial Reconciliation in Richmond, Virginia, 1954 to the Present " in the Conference Room, LeConte Hall. The major professor is Dr. Robert Pratt. Members of the university community are invited to attend. Please contact the graduate program at history@uga.edu if you wish to attend, to ensure adequate seating.

Christina Davis will defend her dissertation entitled, "The Collective Identities of Women Teachers in Black Schools in the Post-Bellum South" in the Conference Room, LeConte Hall. The major professor is Dr. Robert Pratt. Members of the university community are invited to attend. Please contact the graduate program at history@uga.edu if you wish to attend, to ensure adequate seating.

The Phinizy Lectures rank as UGA's most distinguished lecture series in the humanities. This year's lecture is etitled "Divided by a Common Past: Southerners and the Struggle to Secure Their Version of History", presented by James C. Cobb, B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Research Professor in the History of the American South.

Lester D. Stephens, UGA emeritus professor of history, received the Georgia Historical Society's 2014 E. Merton Coulter Award for the best article published in the Georgia Historical Quarterly in 2013. His article, "John Ruggles Cotting and the First State Geological Survey of Georgia," appeared inthe summer 2013 issue.

Georgia Public Broadcasting's Rickey Bevington hosts a stellar line-up of local scholars, poets, artists, and musicians in a far-reaching roundtable discussion of the coincident anniversaries of the 1864 Battles of Atlanta and 1964 Civil Rights Act. Panelists include Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey; artist Robert Morris; singer-songwriter Caroline Herring; and historians Robert Pratt, Brett Gadsden and Joseph Crespino. Featuring Robert Morris's "Slavery By Another Name" exhibit.