Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
July 11-14, 1999
Sunday,
July 11
5:30-8:00 p.mHow Nashville Became Music City
Robert K. Oermann, editor at large, Country Music magazine
All sessions will be held in Room 223 of the Social-Religious Building on the Peabody Campus Monday,
July 12
8:30 a.m.BREAKFAST 9:00-10:15 a.m. Race Relations: The Southern Crucible
Perhaps nowhere has the South experienced more change than in the area of race relations. Most of today's leaders grew up in a region divided by color. What impact has this had on their political ideology and vision? Some say that Lyndon B. Johnson's experience with segregation was central to his enactment of civil rights legislation. Bill Clinton has been called the first black president. How did the Southern experience affect their view on race-based policies?
John Seigenthaler, founder, First Amendment Center
Forrest Harris, director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute on the Black Church10: 30 a.m.-noon Storytelling—The Narrative Tradition of the South
The South has a long and proud history of storytelling and Southern leaders are exceptional in their political rhetoric. From sermons to song and literature, what role has the Southern narrative tradition played in their ability to connect with the American people?
Susan Ford Wiltshire, professor of classics
Tony Earley, assistant professor of English
Michael Kreyling, professor of EnglishNoon-2:00 p.m. LUNCH/JOURNALISTS' ROUNDTABLE 2:00-3:15 p.m. Campaign 2000—A Southern Election?
Al Gore, George W. Bush, Lamar Alexander, Elizabeth Dole. The South will play a dominant role in the next presidential election. How will its culture and heritage impact the political discourse?
John Kuzenski, assistant professor of political science, The Citadel
Geoff Layman, assistant professor of political science3:30 p.m. TOUR OF CAMPUS/FREE TIME
Tuesday,
July 13
8:30 a.m.BREAKFAST 9:00-10:15 a.m. Globalization, Industrialization and the Wal-Martizan of the South
The mill town may be dead, replaced by high-tech industries, banks, manufacturing strip malls. Can the South keep up with the rapid growth? What's happening to the displaced textile workers?
David Carlton, associate professor of history
10:30-11:45 a.m. Country Music: A Symbol of the South?
Examines the history and future of country music from a cultural and economic standpoint. Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain have mainstreamed country music; will the industry continue to grow in this direction or go back to its roots? What led to the growth in its popularity? Why has the industry remained so homogenous? What about other "Southern" music—jazz, blues and rock and roll?
Pete Peterson, professor of sociology
Jim Foglesong, adjunct professor of music business
Charles Wolfe, professor of English at Middle Tennessee State UniversityNoon-2:00 p.m. LUNCH/JOURNALISTS' ROUNDTABLE Blue Bird Café
Wednesday,
July 14
8:30 a.m.BREAKFAST 9:00-10:15 a.m. God, Family and Country: The Southern Moral Tradition
Examines the importance of the church and the family in the South and explores its impact on the value and mores of Southern political leaders.
Darren Sherkat, associate professor of sociology and religious studies
10:30-11:45 a.m. The South and American Culture
The South continues to have a pervasive influence on American culture, whether its country music and NASCAR or film and books. From John Grisham to Tom Wolfe, the Southern literary tradition is alive and well. How has the culture changed and why does its influence remain strong?
Larry Griffin, director of American and Southern studies program
Paul Corbin, The Nashville NetworkNoon-1:15 p.m. LUNCH 1:30-2: 45 p.m. Southern Politics: Shifting Sands?
The traditional culture of the South justified its manifest inequalities in race and class by appeals to nature. The contemporary South, on the other hand, seems to justify continuing inequalities by emphasizing differences in individual effort, sub-cultural values and market forces. Does this mean that the South has been successfully "Reconstructed" along the lines demanded by liberals? Or, has the old hierarchy simply adopted the rhetoric of market competition to sustain traditional patterns? If the latter is true, how does this move affect African-American and white liberals?
Richard Pride, associate professor of political science
