John Neff

Presented every fall to distinguished humanities scholars at each community college and university in Mississippi, the award is part of an annual celebration of Arts and Humanities Month sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and the UM College of Liberal Arts.

To commemorate the honor, Neff is to deliver a free, public lecture on "Our Hearts Were Touched with Fire: The Memory of the Civil War" at 7 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 28) in Bondurant Auditorium. He also gets a $500 honorarium from the Mississippi Humanities Council.

"In our memories, personal and collective, Americans have continued to interpret and project meanings onto that conflict, in ways that demonstrate its evolving, complicated centrality to our sense of self and of nation," Neff said.

Founding director of the new Center for Civil War Research at UM, Neff is committed to the study of how the Civil War impacted American life, not only at the time of the conflict but also in every period since.

"Dr. Neff brings a scholar's knowledge and love to his subject, as well as a deep interest in students," said UM liberal arts Dean Glenn Hopkins. "We are fortunate to have him here at the university."

The award is not the first for Neff. In 2005, he was tapped as the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year, and earlier this year was honored with the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award.

Neff, who joined the UM faculty in 1999, specializes in American history, particularly the Civil War era. Students flock to his classes, including his popular Era of the Civil War course, which consistently enrolls about 70 per semester.

Neff said his goal is to provide students an opportunity to acquire skills and tools that will carry them far beyond his classroom. He said he feels lucky to teach in a place where Civil War history has such resonance with so many students.

"They come to the classroom ready to dive in, and that is a really wonderful thing," he said. "I hope to get students engaged in seeking to understand the world around them, to be in a position to be savvy, curious and discerning."

Neff is also preparing for the university's two-day conference on the Civil War, which begins Oct. 30 and focuses this year on leadership. The keynote speaker is Joan Waugh of UCLA, who recently published a new study of Ulysses S. Grant titled "U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth." For more information or to register, contact Robert Fox at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 662-915-1408.

For more information on the UM history department, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/history/.