Photo submitted by WCU Public Relations
From WCU Office of Public Relations
Harvey Gantt, an architect and civil rights activist who formerly served as mayor of Charlotte and was a candidate for the U.S. Senate, will be the keynote speaker for a daylong symposium at Western Carolina University – “North Carolina in Dialogue: Our Past, Present and Future.”
Set for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, April 10, the interdisciplinary symposium will provide a platform for the public and WCU’s students, faculty and staff to learn from a lineup of distinguished scholars and public activists and intellectuals who will offer perspectives on North Carolina’s history, politics and culture, said Rob Ferguson, an assistant professor in WCU’s Department of History who co-organized the event with Chris Cooper, head of WCU’s Department of Political Science and Public Affairs.
“Our hope is that we have brought together a wide array of scholars and activists who can offer thoughtful and compelling perspectives on our state,” Ferguson said. “Perhaps more importantly, we want the audience to engage the panelists and each other in productive dialogue regarding the future of North Carolina.”
Cooper said the symposium will offer an impressive and diverse lineup of speakers. “I’m looking forward to hearing their perspectives on North Carolina’s past and present, and I hope that this conference can play a small role in helping shape the future of our state,” he said.
Panel sessions will address issues such a public education, farming and foodways, social change, and politics and voting rights. Panelists will include June Atkinson, N.C. superintendent of public instruction; Elizabeth Engelhardt, the John Shelton Reed Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; David Cunningham, professor and chair of the sociology department at Brandeis University; Dan Carter, professor emeritus in the history department at the University of South Carolina; and J. Peder Zane, chair of the journalism and mass communications department at St. Augustine’s University and contributor to the Raleigh News and Observer.
The event is free and open to everyone. Individuals planning to attend are asked to register at the event website, which can be accessed by visiting the event link. The website includes a detailed schedule of activities that will be held in the Blue Ridge Hall Conference Room and Grandroom at A.K. Hinds University Center.
The symposium is being sponsored by WCU’s Office of Undergraduate Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Department of History, Department of Political Science and Public Affairs, Public Policy Institute, and Office of Continuing and Professional Education.
For more general information, contact Rob Ferguson at 828-227-3502 or rhferguson@wcu.edu.
