Symposium at Lee will focus on issues of race
“Having the Conversation About Race: People of Faith in College and Church” will be the theme of a symposium next weekend at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.
The Lee-Maryville Symposium, “Conversations on Faith and the Liberal Arts,” will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6-7, in the Science and Math Complex on Lee’s campus. The symposium will begin at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon and continue until 9 p.m. It will resume Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m.
In keeping with the symposium’s theme, sessions will focus on engaging with the national discussion surrounding issues of race. The goal is to explore what roles teachers and members of faith communities play in responding to racial divisions in the classroom, church and larger community.
“When we planned this event last year, we knew that it would be important,” says Dr. Jason Ward, associate professor of history at Lee and director of the symposium.
“It turns out, however, that a weekend of conversation about race, faith and liberal arts is even timelier than we could have foreseen,” he says. “I am very excited about the fine speakers who will lead us in creative ways to think deeply about the idea of race and how it unites and divides us in America.”
Keynote speakers will be Dr. Alicia Jackson, associate professor of history at Covenant College; Dr. Linda Naranjo-Huebl, associate professor of English and African and African diaspora studies at Calvin College; and Dr. H. Paul Thompson, dean of the College of Humanities at North Greenville University.
After the presentations, prepared responses will be delivered by Dr. John M. Adams, pastor of Easley First Baptist Church; Jacqueline Rowe Fields, director of community relations at Capstone Education Group; Dr. Mary McCampbell, associate professor of humanities at Lee; and Dr. Ronald A. Wells, associate director of the LeeMaryville Symposium.
A final summary will be given by Dr. Crystal Colter, associate professor of psychology at Maryville College.
Registration is $75, which includes lunch and dinner.
To register, visit https:// sites.google.com/site/ leesymposium/home.