Paul Quigley is James I. Robertson, Jr. Associate Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech. His publications include Shifting Grounds: Nationalism and the American South, 1848-65, winner of the British Association for American Studies Book Prize and the Jefferson Davis Award from the Museum of the Confederacy.

James Hawdon is a professor of sociology and Director of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention at Virginia Tech. Professor Hawdon's research focuses on how community relations influence rates of violence and how communities respond to violent incidents ranging from murder to warfare. He has published over a hundred articles, books, and reports in the areas of violence, crime, the sociology of drugs, and policing.