On June 3 through 5, Hampden-Sydney College will host a summer college program, A New Look at the Civil War.

The Civil War remains the single most important event in American history-a cataclysmic war of death and destruction, of heroism and sacrifice. The Summer College will address the substance of this war, which still fascinates and commands our attention, particularly as we begin its sesquicentennial observance. The focus will be less on the military side (although battles and generals cannot be ignored) and more on the political, economic, and social issues that disunion generated, including the causes and impact of the war and its effects on African Americans and women.

Hampden-Sydney's Summer College will feature several popular Hampden-Sydney professors as well as renowned Civil War historian Elizabeth Varon, author of the award-winning Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, A Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy.

Summer College 2011 includes the following:

Friday, June 3, Reception & Dinner: Tiger Inn, Settle Hall, 5:30-7 p.m.; Session I, Crawley Forum, 7:30-9 p.m., Welcoming Remarks – Dr. Christopher B. Howard, President, Hampden-Sydney College; Keynote Speech: The Causes of the Civil War, Dr. Ronald L. Heinemann, Squires Professor Emeritus of History, Hampden-Sydney College; Evening in the Tiger Inn, cash bar, 9:30-11 p.m.;

Saturday, June 4, breakfast: Settle Hall, 7:30 a.m.; Session II, Crawley Forum, 8:30-9:45 a.m., The Ambiguity of the Founding – Dr. David A. Marion, Professor of Government & Foreign Affairs, and Dr. John Coombs, Professor of History, Hampden-Sydney College; Session III Crawley Forum, 10-11:15 a.m., Secession in Virginia – Dr. Elizabeth Varon, Professor of History, University of Virginia; Session IV, Crawley Forum, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., African Americans in Civil War America – Dr. Caroline Emmons, Professor of History, Hampden-Sydney College; working lunch: Crawley Forum, 12:30-1:45 p.m., H-SC in the Civil War – Dr. William Thompson, former chaplain and historian, Hampden-Sydney College; Session V, 2:15-4:15 p.m., Sailor's Creek Outing – Christopher Calkins, Sailor's Creek Battlefield Park; reception & dinner, Tiger Inn, Settle Hall, 5:30-7 p.m.; entertainment in the Tiger Inn 7:30-9 p.m.;

Sunday, June 5, breakfast, 7:30 a.m., Settle Hall; Session VI, Crawley Forum, 8:45-10 a.m. Economics of the Civil War – Dr. Greg Dempster & Dr. Justin Isaacs, Professors of Economics, Hampden-Sydney College; Session VII, Crawley Forum, 10:15-11:30 a.m.; Round Table Forum Discussion; closing remarks, Dr. Robert T. Herdegen, Dean of the Faculty, Hamdpen-Sydney College.

The Summer College is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Leadership and the Hampden-Sydney Alumni Office. Mike O'York and the Nottoway Public Schools donated a bus to take participants to Sailor's Creek.

To make reservations, call the Hampden-Sydney Alumni Office at (434) 223-6148 or contact alumni@hsc.edu.