Dr. Alicia Jackson
Dr. Linda Naranjo-Huebl
Dr. H. Paul Thompson
Dr. Crystal Colter
Lee University will host the Lee-Maryville Symposium, “Conversations on Faith and the Liberal Arts,” on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6-7, in the Science and Math Complex on Lee’s campus.
The symposium’s theme is “Having the Conversation about Race: People of Faith in College and Church” and 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 the racial divisions faced in the classroom, church, and larger community.
“When we planned this event last year, we knew that it would be important,” said 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. 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.”
The 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 Lee-Maryville Symposium.
A final summary presentation will be given by Dr. Crystal Colter, associate professor of psychology at Maryville College.
The symposium encourages open discussion after the presentations in order to create a community in which ideas connected to a central theme form the core of ongoing discussion.
The symposium began at Maryville College in 2007 under the direction of Wells. It has since fostered a civil discussion, across disciplines and from a number of different kind of church-related institutions of higher education, on connecting Christianity and the liberal arts.
The symposium will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and continue until 9 p.m. that evening. It will resume Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m. Registration is $75 and will include lunch and dinner.
For more information or to register, visit https://sites.google.com/site/leesymposium/home.
For questions about the event, contact Dr. Ward at jward@leeuniversity.edu or 614-8367.