The Rice Museum in Georgetown will host a multi-disciplinary symposium on April 18 -19, 2024 in partnership with the Georgetown County Library and Coastal Carolina University. The “Living With Water” symposium will investigate the historical, ecological, cultural, and social aspects of living along the coast and other waterways. SC Humanities supported this program with a Mini Grant.
The goal of the “program “Living With Water” Symposium is to help coastal communities understand both the history of water culture and how water is currently impacting them through storms and water events. Featured speakers will include Dr. Kevin Dawson, a Professor of History from the University of California; Michael F. Piehler, Director of the North Carolina Institute for the Environment; Zenobia Harper, Director of the Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies at Coastal Carolina University; and Don Quattlebaum, a rice planter. The symposium will be recorded and made available to all branches of the Georgetown County Library, as well as placed on their active YouTube page.
The Symposium schedule is:
Thursday, April 18, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. – Meet & Greet and Cocktail Party @ The Rice Museum, 633 Front St, Georgetown, SC 29440
Friday, April 19, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Lecture Sessions and Lunch @ Prince George Winyah Church Hall, 300 Broad St, Georgetown, SC 29440
Tickets are $35 for students and $75 for the general public, with discounts for Museum members, and cover both days of events, including the cocktail party and lunch on Friday. Tickets can be purchased on the Rice Museum website: https://www.ricemuseum.org/event-details-registration/living-with-water-symposium.
The Rice Museum Director, Jim Fitch, said: “Each year local communities deal with the stressors that arise from living with water. Interest has been expressed by local organizations regarding how best to prepare for and to deal with the aftermath of storms and water events. More importantly communities need to know how to embrace living with water and how to make water resources an asset. The humanities are critical to helping understand the manner in which water affects places and in providing a historical and cultural framework for developing skills and resources that will allow those living near the water to create safe, dynamic, and sustainable communities.”
The Rice Museum was opened in 1970 as part of the South Carolina Tricentennial. Their mission is to preserve and protect local history and culture. Learn more: https://www.ricemuseum.org/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
Image: From the exhibit “Living With Water” courtesy of The Rice Museum; “Purple Haze,” pastel on paper, by artist M.P. Swenson
