Walter Edgar, George Washington Distinguished Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, will give a talk titled "South Carolina and the Global Economy: A Long and Rich History" on Tuesday, April 3 at 3 p.m. at Coastal Carolina University. The event, which will be held in the Wall Auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Edgar is the author of "South Carolina: A History," "Partisans and Redcoats," "South Carolina in the Modern Age" and editor of the new "South Carolina Encyclopedia." In addition to his scholarship and teaching, Edgar serves as the director of the Institute for Southern Studies. He was founder and first director of USC's acclaimed public history program.

Edgar hosts "Walter Edgar's Journal" weekly on South Carolina Public Radio and reads from recent Southern fiction on the program "Southern Read."

"Walter Edgar is the preeminent historian of South Carolina and one of the leading men of letters in the South," said Charles Joyner, Burroughs Distinguished Professor of Southern History and Culture and director of the Waccamaw Center for Historical and Cultural Studies at CCU.

Edgar earned a master's degree in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1969 in history from USC. He joined the USC faculty in 1972 and has served on the boards of the South Carolinian Society, the Historic Columbia Foundation and the Columbia Museum of Art. In 2001, Edgar received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Coastal.

This event is sponsored by Coastal's Waccamaw Center for Historical and Cultural Studies. A reception and book signing will follow the talk.

For more information, call 349-2476.