The Civil War Institute creates opportunities for students to put history into action in immersive and experiential ways. Academically, CWI contributes to enhancing the teaching and research aspects of the campus’s intellectual life and serves as home to the Civil War Era Studies minor and Public History minor. Our commitment to student professional networking is put into practice through a range of paid internship and fellowship programs, opportunities for skill development, and sustained investment in career mentorship. Reaching beyond campus, CWI’s annual summer conference, public programs, and digital scholarship initiatives also foster informed public conversation about the history and legacy of the Civil War era.
For more than 40 years, the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College has hosted a premiere annual summer conference bringing leading historians and public audiences together for lectures, battlefield tours, small group conversations, and roundtable conversations about the Civil War era.
Details about the 2027 summer conference, to be held June 11-15, will be announced soon.
Gettysburg College sits at a crossroads of history. Across the lawns where students now walk, the college witnessed fighting that ultimately helped decide the fate of freedom in America. But today, very little remains to help conjure the images of horror and hope which played out on the campus more than 160 years ago. Developed in 2007 by alumnus John M. Rudy, the tour showcases nine campus locations and their historical significance.
Check out their self-guided history walking tour here.
