Learn more about the South at these campus and community events during Fall 2024. Most are free!
Now through Dec 7: Halsey Gallery, “As Any Means Are Necessary.” Desmond Melancon’s handsewn beadwork sculptures reflect Black Masking Culture of New Orleans. View WGST’s “Intersections” presentation on this exhibit, featuring C of C faculty, held Sep 4. It can now be viewed here.
Visit Stono Preserve, the College’s 981-acre property along the Stono River. This preserve is an amazing site of learning about Southern ecosystems and the histories of people who have lived here. The preserve must be carefully protected, so visits are by appointment only! To arrange a visit, contact Matthew Rutter rutterm@cofc.edu or Lucy Davis davislh@cofc.edu
Indigenous Voices Series, 2024-2025 Academic Year The Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World (CLAW) program is sponsoring Indigenous Voices, a series of opportunities for the C of C community to learn more about Native American experiences–from the distant past to the present day. Learn directly from Tribes in our area and other Native people, including a free trip to a Pow Wow on October 12 and a music/dance expo on the Cistern Nov 7. For more info, visit the website. (Note: CLAW and the Committee on Commemoration and Landscapes are forming a new committee to implement some of the recommendations we have received in our meetings with Tribal leaders. If interested in joining this committee, please contact Sandy Slater, Julia Eichelberger, or Valerie Frazier.)
Thurs Sep 26 4 pm Mace Auditorium Reclaiming Two Spirits: A discussion with Gregory Smithers and Roo George-Warren. Smithers, author of Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal and Sovereignty in Native America, will join George-Warren, a member of the Catawba Nation, in this discussion.
Sat Oct 5 Community Day at Dill Sanctuary, sponsored by the Charleston Museum. Free event; learn more and preregister here. “The Museum invites the community to tour this precious landscape to learn more about the rich historic and natural features located within this 580-acre wildlife preserve.” This preserve is not normally open to the public.
Mon Oct 7, 7 PM, Mt. Zion AME Church, Glebe St. College of Charleston Gospel Choir Concert. Free!
Tues Oct 8, 6 pm Septima Clark Auditorium (ECTR 118) “I Wrote to Them. They Wrote Back: Epistolary Echoes in Black Men’s Public Letters.” Professor Kenneth Johnson’s lecture will highlight the work of Mississippi writer Kiese Laymon.
Oct 11-Jan 12 Celebrating the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art at the Gibbes Museum. This lovely museum is open late (5-8) on Wednesday evenings, and admission is free then! At other times, student admission is $10, a student annual membership is $25. The first floor of the Gibbes is admission-free.
October 12, 7:30pm, Septima Clark Auditorium. Rakish House Concert. These musicians (fiddle, guitar, and voice) combine Appalachian and Irish traditions. Their second album is Now, O Now. Here’s a preview. You can buy tickets here. Sponsored by C of C’s program in Irish and Irish-American Studies.
Oct 14, Nov 12, Dec 4: “Untold Stories” Campus Historical Tours, sponsored by the Committee on Commemoration and Landscapes. Links to tour registration will be posted on the CCL website (If you’re interested in joining the CCL, please contact co-chairs Valerie Frazier or Julia Eichelberger.)
Oct 17 5:30 PM, Simons Center Recital Hall. Simons Medal Award and Lecture: Joseph McGill. The College of Charleston’s Historic Preservation and Community Planning (HPCP) Program will present its Albert Simons Medal of Excellence to Joseph McGill, Jr., founder of The Slave Dwelling Project and co-author of Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. A short ceremony will take place, followed by a lecture by McGill. Free!
Oct 21, 5-6 PM, Rivers Green. Commemoration of Black Burial Grounds Public commemoration of the burial grounds on this site, followed by a collection of soil to be used in a memorial fountain to be installed at the Gaillard Auditorium. The Anson Street African Burial Ground is collecting soil from Black burial grounds in the Charleston area. The soil will be incorporated into a libation bowl that will form part of the fountain sculpture, installed near the graves that were found during the construction of the Gaillard. The Center for the Study of Slavery is organizing this program.
Nov. 1-3 Slow Fish, a conference sponsored by Slow Food USA, C of C campus and Bowen’s Island. The organizers are looking for volunteers, including C of C students, to assist in hosting the conference. Volunteers have complimentary access to all sessions. Please use the form here to sign up as a volunteer(Organizer says the form “mentions an October 1 deadline, but there is flexibility there.”) If you cannot volunteer but would still like to attend a session, please go to the ticketing link and use this code SF2024CHSCOC.
To add an event to this listing, please email eichelbergerj@cofc.edu