TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – More than 40 presenters from around the nation and Europe will discuss racial issues during The University of Alabama’s third annual “Race and Place” conference March 11-13.

The three-day conference, entitled “The Struggle for Civil Rights in America,” will be held at UA’s Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence. The conference, which is open to the public, begins at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 11. More information is available at http://www.ua.edu/academic/colleges/raceandplace/index.html or by phoning 205/348-1859.

Participants will discuss civil rights broadly, including the modern movement which began in the South in the 1950s but also civil rights issues throughout the 19th century, including the abolitionist movement, the women’s movement and issues related to both Hispanic and Native Americans.

The cost of the conference is $20.

Presenters are scheduled from Emory, the College of William and Mary, Ohio State, Columbia, University of Texas, Tulane, Vanderbilt, University of North Carolina, Yale, Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and elsewhere.

The conference’s two keynote speakers are Dr. John Dittmer, professor of history at Depauw University, and Dr. Barbara Ransby, professor of history at the University of Illinois, Chicago. It was organized by the UA history department’s diversity committee, comprised of faculty members and chaired by Dr. Lisa Dorr, assistant professor of history at UA.

The conference is sponsored by the department of history at UA, in conjunction with the Bankhead Lecture Series and the College of Arts and Sciences.