The fifth annual African Americans in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia Conference returns to Asheville this fall, offering scholars and the community an opportunity to illuminate the African American experience in Southern Appalachia. The three-day event from Oct. 18-20 will feature a variety of topics, including race in education, social justice, and history while highlighting regional African American culture, with a theme of “Making the Invisible Visible.”
Conference activities are free and open to everyone with advance registration requested at aawnc.unca.edu or by calling 828.255.7216.
The conference will begin with an opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 18 at the YMI Cultural Center, continue on Oct. 19-20 with scholarly presentations and community panels at UNC Asheville, and conclude with an awards night at The Collider on Saturday, Oct. 20.
On the schedule this year are a roundtable discussion on Crafting Affrilachia, in partnership with The Center for Craft and led by Marie T. Cochran, founder of the Affrilachian Artist Project; black-owned business panels and exhibits in partnership with Mountain BizWorks; a performance in tribute to Jacob Lawrence at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center; and an announcement of The City of Asheville Visiting Artist. Our partnership with the CoThinkk Awards Night at The Collider returns, along with the Jesse and Julia Ray Lecture, given by Appalachian studies scholar William H. Turner.
On Friday, Oct. 19, UNC Asheville will also name the Mullen & James Humanities Hall to honor Dwight and Dolly Mullen and Charles and Deborah James, four long-serving, pioneering African American faculty emeriti. The ceremony will be shared via Facebook Live and can be viewed on this event page and on UNC Asheville’s main Facebook page.
The conference receives funding from the The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which awarded UNC Asheville a grant of $700,000 for public arts and humanities in 2017. One of the grant goals is to further initiatives in Affrilachia, uncovering what has been the largely undocumented influence of African Americans on the culture and social fabric of Western North Carolina. Conference sponsors include the City of Asheville, Buncombe County Government, Mission Health, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, Amy Mandel and Katina Rodis Fund, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville, McClure Fund, Wilma Dykeman Society, and the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission.
Additional conference details are available at aawnc.unca.edu. Advance registration is requested online at aawnc.unca.edu or by calling 828.255.7216.
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