Fall guest speakers to explore segregation, Cherokee history and other topics in the humanities

CLEMSON – Renowned poet Susan Stewart, best-selling author Richard Rothstein and Cherokee history expert Tom Hatley are among the speakers who will visit Clemson University during the fall semester to discuss topics in the humanities.

“With two international conferences – one on the Romantics and one on Abraham Lincoln – and many additional visiting speakers, this fall promises to be an active and rewarding semester for anyone in the Clemson area interested in questions of history, language, philosophy and religion,” said Lee Morrissey, the founding director of the Humanities Hub and interim associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.

“Nearly all events are free and open to the public,” Morrissey said. “We hope to see students, faculty and Upstate community members at all of them.”

The following events are sponsored by the Humanities Hub at Clemson University:

Susan Stewart, poet, literary critic and the Avalon Foundation Professor of English at Princeton, will read from her latest book, “Cinder: New and Selected Poems” at 4 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Class of 1941 Studio for Student Communication in Daniel Hall. Stewart’s appearance is sponsored by the Humanities Hub and the English department at Clemson.

Lena Hill, dean of Washington and Lee University, will discuss “Ralph Ellison and the African-American Religious Experience” in the 2018 Nancy Hardesty Memorial Lecture. The annual lecture is presented in honor of Hardesty, a past professor of religion at Clemson and an influential scholar. Hill will speak at 5 p.m. Oct. 23 in Hardin Hall, Room 100. Hill’s lecture is sponsored by the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities; the Humanities Hub; and the departments of philosophy and religion; Pan African Studies; and English at Clemson University.

Tom Hatley, author of “The Dividing Paths: Cherokees and South Carolinians Through the Revolutionary Era,” will speak about Cherokee history in the Upstate at 4 p.m. Nov. 12 in Hardin Hall, Room 100. Hatley’s appearance is sponsored by the Humanities Hub.

Richard Rothstein, author of the best-selling book “The Color of Law,” will discuss how local, state and federal laws and policy decisions in the past promoted discriminatory patterns that continue to this day. His lecture will take place at 4 p.m. Nov. 15 in Lee Hall Auditorium (Lee 2-111). Rothstein’s appearance is sponsored by the Humanities Hub and the Clemson University city planning and real estate development department.

Humanities conferences

The International Conference on Romanticism: “Romantic Assembly” will be held Oct. 25-28 at the Hyatt Regency in Greenville. Registration is required. The conference is free for students and faculty at Clemson and Furman and $75-$150 for other attendees. Conference sponsors include Clemson University, the Pearce Center for Professional Communication, the Humanities Hub, the department of English and Furman University.

“Lincoln’s Unfinished Work,” an international conference featuring more than 30 renowned historians, will take place Nov. 28-Dec. 1 at Clemson University. Organized by Clemson professor Vernon Burton, the conference will examine the “unfinished work” of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency as a springboard for exploring the political and social reconstruction in the United States from 1865 to the present day. Topics will include the history of race relations and other important issues in American democracy. The opening session will feature historian Eric Foner and legal scholar Randall Kennedy starting at 5 p.m. Nov. 28 in Tillman Hall Auditorium. The rest of the sessions will be held in the Watt Family Innovation Center. “Lincoln’s Unfinished Work” is free and open to the public. Sponsors include the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation; the Thomas Watson Brown Foundation; South Carolina Humanities; the Ford Foundation; and, at Clemson University, the Division of Inclusion and Equity; the Watt Family Innovation Center; the Humanities Hub and the department of history.

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Humanities Hub
The Humanities Hub was created in 2016 with the aim of advancing outreach, scholarship and teaching of the humanities at Clemson University. Further information and scheduling updates will be posted on the Humanities Hub website and Facebook page.