The University of South Carolina Upstate will feature the book One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash for their Freshman reading program, “Preface,” and they will present a wide variety of public programs that are open to the general public from September – November 2023. Rash will give the keynote address on September 14 at 5:00 p.m. SC Humanities supported this program series with a Mini Grant.
The University of South Carolina Upstate annually offers the “Preface” program to indroduce first year students to the “joy of reading critically and using academic disciplines and methods to approach the complex issues in our communities, nation, and world.” Director of Preface, Dr. Esther Godfrey, explains: “We read, think, and talk together in order to see how concentrated, research-based attention to any subject can bring new solutions to light.” The programs are open to all University students as well as the general community.
Ron Rash’s book One Foot in Eden was selected for the 2023 Preface both for its literary merit and because it is set in the Upstate of South Carolina and offers a window to look at topics of local interest. One Foot in Eden tells the story of a sheriff in the Jocassee Valley in the 1950s and how a murder impacts the rural community.
Planned events include:
Thursday, September 14, 2023 | 5:00 p.m.
Preface: Keynote Address with Ron Rash – “Raising the Dead: Resurrecting Lost Lives and Lost Places”
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
Old-Time Medicine and Women Healers
Featuring Kristi Miller, USC Upstate
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Tuesday, September 26, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
The Environmental Impact of Dams
Featuring Peter Brewitt, Wofford College
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Thursday, September 28 | 10:45 a.m.
The Cherokee: Jocassee Valley’s Original Inhabitants
Featuring Paul Grady, USC Upsate
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Tuesday, October 3, 2023 | 4:00 p.m.
Missing Bodies and Murder Mysteries
Featuring Michele Covington, USC Upsate
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 4:00 p.m.
The History of the Jocassee Valley
Featuring Claudia Hembree
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Tuesday, October 17 | 4:00 p.m.
Lake Jocassee, Then and Now
Featuring Alan Stuart, Duke Energy
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Thursday, October 25, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
Veterans and PTSD
Featuring Stefanie Keen, USC Upstate
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Thursday, November 2, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
Infertility as Disability: How Rhetoric Impacts Access to Healthcare
Featuring Monika Herr, USC Upstate
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Thursday, November 9, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
Sheriff Alexander’s Reflections on Southern Natural History
Featuring Jonathon Storm, USC Upstate
Director of College and Career Readiness at the Spartanburg Academic Movement and Spartanburg City Councilmember
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 12:00 p.m.
Global and Local Displacements: Refugees, Sex Trafficking, and the Consequences of Urban Renewal
Featuring a panel of: Brandon Baughn (Director, World Relief South Carolina), Aryaa Regmi (Human trafficking program coordinator for the South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force, Office of the Attorney General), and Meghan Smith (Director of College and Career Readiness at the Spartanburg Academic Movement and Spartanburg City Councilmember)
Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center, 180 Gramling Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29303
More information about the “Preface” program can be found on the USC Upstate website HERE. All events are free and open to the public.
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.
