Okra to Opera: the Conference on Southern Culture
to
Converse College 580 East Main Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29302
Food touches on every aspect of life, from religion, to socio-economic concerns, to cultural identities, and beyond. This weeklong conversation, April 16-19, will include featured speakers, panel discussions, readings and musical performances. Attendees will have the opportunity to examine the diverse ways that the growing, cooking, consuming and availability of food impacts southern culture.
Keynote Speaker
Elizabeth Engelhardt, Southern Food Matters Thursday, April 17, 4:15 pm
Elizabeth Engelhardt is the author of A Mess of Greens: Southern Gender and Southern Food (2011)and Republic of Barbecue (2009). Engelhardt has taught in American Studies and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Texas, Austin from 2004 until the present. Since receiving her doctorate in Women's Studies in 1999, Dr. Engelhardt has held academic positions at Emory University, Ohio University, and West Virginia University as well. A native of western North Carolina, she is never happier than when she can write and read with her feet in a mountain stream.
Sampling of Events
Performance by Pot Luck
Making a Living in Food, panel discussion
Speaker, Dr. Rebecca Sharpless, Fame and Fortune: The Tradition of Food Entrepreneurs in the South
Everybody Eats: Food Insecurity in the South, panel discussion
Author of In the Garden of Stone, Susan Tekulve, Reading
Peaches and Plates A'Plenty: Opening Reception and Exhibition at the Regional Museum of History from the Johnson Collection
See a full schedule of events here.