CONWAY, Ark. (September 21, 2010) — Hendrix Politics Professor Dr. Jay Barth will moderate a discussion on Southern culture and identity as part of Future of the South, a symposium presented by The Oxford American and Hendrix College at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010.
The all-day program is based on The Oxford American's new Future issue, which was released on Sept. 1. The issue includes articles and essays from a diverse array of authors who approach the subject in unique and unpredictable ways, and it provides a lively and creative discussion of the trends, forces, personalities, and issues that will impact and define the direction of the South during the next 40 years. That discussion will be brought to life at the symposium, which will be comprised of lectures and panels featuring The Oxford American writers and other experts and moderated by prominent thought leaders. The event is free and open to the public.
The symposium will begin at 9 a.m. with opening remarks by David Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will deliver the symposium’s keynote address at at 9:45 a.m.
There will be three panel discussions:
10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Land and Environment
This panel, moderated by NPR’s National Environment Correspondent Elizabeth Shogren, includes: Bill Belleville, a writer who contributed an article about suburban sprawl in rural Florida; Andrew Furman, an instructor at Florida Atlantic University who explores the future of the live oak across the South; and Philip Sasser, a North Carolina lawyer who offers a philosophical meditation on land surveying.
2:15-3:45 p.m.: The Future of the Gulf Coast
This panel, moderated by Andy Brack, who is the President of the Center for a Better South, includes: Casi Callaway, the executive director of Mobile Baykeeper; Amy Liu, a leading expert on the recovery of New Orleans through her work as senior fellow and deputy director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution; and Matthew Pitt, a writer who questions the success of a coastal art museum in post-Katrina Mississippi.
4:00-5:30 p.m.: The Future of Southern Culture and Identity
This panel, moderated by Dr. Jay Barth, Chair of Politics & International Relations at Hendrix College, includes: Wendy Brenner, associate professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington; Connie May Fowler, an award-winning novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter who lives in Florida; and Diane Roberts, a professor of English at Florida State University, author, and NPR commentator.
The Oxford American will host a public reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Johnny's Half Shell (www.johnnyshalfshell.net), which is owned by Mississippi native Ann Cashion.
ABOUT THE OXFORD AMERICAN
The Oxford American is a national magazine that is dedicated to featuring the very best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South. Billed as "The Southern Magazine of Good Writing," it has won two National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it began publication in 1992. The magazine has featured the original work of such literary powerhouses as Charles Portis, Roy Blount, Jr., ZZ Packer, Donald Harington, Donna Tartt, Ernest J. Gaines, and many other distinguished authors, while also discovering and launching the most promising writers in the region. The magazine has also published previously unseen work by such Southern masters as William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, James Agee, Zora Neale Hurston, James Dickey, Carson McCullers, to name just a handful. The New York Times recently stated that The Oxford American "may be the liveliest literary magazine in America."
The Oxford American is available at bookstores and newsstands nationwide. Select articles from the Future issue are available free in their entirety at www.oxfordamerican.org, along with exclusive online content, including interviews with Southern governors who make predictions about the futures of their respective states (http://oxfordamerican.org/articles/2010/sep/14/governors-forum/).
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is featured in the 2010 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country’s best 371 colleges, was identified as the nation’s top “Up and Coming” liberal arts college for 2011 by U.S. News and World Report, and is ranked among 45 “Best Buy” colleges by the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.