LAKELAND, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2005) - Florida Southern College hosted the 35th annual Consortium on Revolutionary Europe, held Feb. 17-19 on the college campus, at the Lakeland Center, and at the Lakeland Yacht and Country Club. One hundred twenty-five historians, art historians, literature and language specialists, and interested scholars from Western Europe, Canada, and the United States participated in the consortium, one of the major meetings in this country for the study of the Revolutionary era.

Sessions at the conference included 18th century scientific enlightenment; women's place during the French Revolution; the Atlantic world; diplomatic rivalries in the Peninsula; Jews adrift in Revolutionary and Restoration Europe; literary culture; issues of the German states; topics on Bavaria, Switzerland, Ireland, Egypt, and Italy; insurgency then and now; British conservatism; pedagogy; and researching in Paris. As part of the consortium, the college's Melvin Art Gallery sponsored a traveling exhibition of prints of the Napoleonic period. The show runs through February 28 and is free and open to the public.

Susan P. Conner, Vice President for Academic Affairs, whose book "The Age of Napoleon" was published in 2004 by Greenwood Press, was awarded the Legion of Merit, the highest honor of the International Napoleonic Society, during the meeting.


About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 24 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors. Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.