North Carolina Humanities Council

Road Scholars Speakers Bureau

The North Carolina Humanities Council has been offering speakers, free of charge, to public audiences since 1990. All presentations are grounded in the humanities.

This year's catalog of Road Scholars includes 59 speakers whose lectures focus on issues of history, literature, philosophy, ethics, religious studies, linguistics, jurisprudence, history and criticism of the arts, sociology, and certain aspects of social science.

This new listing of speakers brings to the public a variety of presentations that explore the nuances of identity and community. Some of them start in North Carolina, revisiting rural farm life, regional folklore, the dynamics of ethnic populations throughout the state, and the history of local traditions. Others discuss the legacies of historical events including the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Holocaust.

Some explore the history and techniques of art, from Latin American music to North Carolina crafts. Others widen perspectives on a variety of literary genres, including poetry, autobiography, and oral history.

The scholars explore the celebrations and struggles of race relations, the experiences of immigrants, the stories of women in untraditional roles, and the lives and works of historical figures.

They discuss ways to use literature, music, and art as cultural expression, and they contemplate the need for educational reform. These presentations span past and present, factual history and timeless theory, and traditional and innovative interpretations of our literary canons.


>> Road Scholars by District >> Online Catalog >> Download Guidelines >> Download Application	For grant information, information on a specific speaker or to receive a current catalog by mail, contact: Carolyn Allen Tel: (336) 256-0140 callen@nchumanities.org

2008 Programs added: Mary Elder Lasher, MA The Changing Status of Afghan Women Paradoxes of Women’s Lives in Iran Tom Sanders, PhD Divided Iraq: Why the Conflict? What’s Going on in Latin America? Hiking the Appalachian Trail Lucinda MacKethan, PhD Gone With the Wind? Never: Scarlett O’Hara and Southern Womanhood Slave Voices in North Carolina Huck vs. Harriet: Historical Debates Over Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Andrew Angyal, PhD Green Design and the Quest for Sustainablility	John Beck The Changing South: Who’s Benefiting, Who’s Losing Southern Cooking, High and Low: A Short History of the Cuisine of the South David Carr Communities, Conversations, and Cultural Institutions Remembering What to Remember: September 11, 2001 in Fiction Randell Jones In the Footsteps of Daniel Boone The Overmountain Men of 1780 and Their Campaign to the Battle of King’s Mountain Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes of the Old North State Anna Fariello Objects and Meaning Through History Southern Craft: A Revival in the Mountains

2007 Programs added: Fasih U. Ahmed, PhD · Islam: History, Traditions, and Practices Booker T. Anthony, PhD · Biblical Images in Literature Gwen McNeill Ashburn, PhD · Mountain Women in Fiction: Working Without Nets Sherry Austin, BA · Rich and Fertile Mystery: Literary Nonfiction about Nature and Science · The Audacious and the Fantastic: The Art of Southern Gothic Karen Baldwin, PhD · Code Name “Elvis:” The Ivory-billed Woodpecker—Legend and Reality Kenny Dalsheimer, MA · Choices and Change Kevin P. Duffus, · How Shipwrecks Shaped the Destiny of the Outer Banks Umesh C. Gulati, PhD · Mahatma Gandhi—The Man and the Message David LaVere, PhD · What Happened to the Lost Colony? William McNeill, MA · Tango! The Song! The Dance! The Obsession! Roxanne Newton, PhD · Blood on the Cloth: Ella May Wiggins and the 1929 Gastonia Strike Sharon D. Raynor, PhD · Stranger-Outsider: Crossing the Borders “Home” to Africa Anne Rogers, PhD · Cherokee Ceremonial Practices in the 1800s	Charlotte Ross, PhD · Long Legacies: Remarkable Survivals in Appalachian Folklife Billy Stevens, MA · Samson and Delilah: From Pulpits to Pop Stars Anne Mitchell Whisnant, PhD · Grandfather Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway: The Untold Story · Super-Scenic Motorway: The Blue Ridge Parkway Nobody Knows New speakers: Douglas Butler, MD · Libya: Ancient Crossroads, Modern Conundrum · The Last Buddhist Kingdom · Tiebele to Timbuktu: West Africa’s Tribal Cultures Bernie Harberts · Hoofing It By Mule Across North Carolina Joseph Cole, PhD · A Just War? Ethical Issues in the War on Terror · Knowing the Self: Philosophy and Autobiographical Writing Walter Ziffer, ThD · Lost in Translation: When Holy Writ Becomes Wholly Wrong · Two Christian Responses to Hitler and the Holocaust: Barmen and Le Chambon · Witness to the Holocaust Revised program: Gwen McNeill Ashburn, PhD · Carolina Mountains: Writers and Travelers