ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – What binds all of humanity? Food.
And because there is so much to say about the topic from so many different perspectives, it is an ideal choice for Winthrop University departments to collaborate on a food conference, said conference organizer and Professor Ginger Williams.
The regional conference, organized by the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and taking place from Feb. 21-23, is Winthrop’s second in four years involving multiple departments.
“Our goal for the conference is to create an interdisciplinary academic experience that would attract scholars from all fields and also attract a general audience,” Williams said. “We think we’ve done that by bringing a popular speaker who writes and talks about Southern culture through the subject of food.”
John T. Edge, author of “The Potlikker Papers” (Penguin, 2017) and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, will deliver the keynote address on Feb. 21. A widely published food writer and winner of three awards from the James Beard Foundation, Edge has worked through the alliance to explore and document the diversity and ever-changing face of Southern food culture.
In addition, more than 170 academics, food professionals and food activists, not to mention local gardeners, potters and brewers, will speak about our fascination with and dependence on food.
Panels will cover the role of food in agricultural production, tourism and travel, culture, history, literature, global issues, sustainability, hunger, nutrition and health. Speakers also will discuss topics of local interest, such as the history of the much-loved Winthrop Farm, local grassroots food movements and, of course, Southern food.
The North Carolina/South Carolina Graduate Liberal Studies Consortium and Winthrop’s Department of English each folded their annual research efforts into this Winthrop conference.
Additional sponsors include Winthrop’s Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the Richard W. Riley College of Education, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, University College, Winthrop Galleries, the Master of Liberal Arts Program, the Departments of Interdisciplinary Studies, Biology, English, History, Human Nutrition, Fine Arts, Mass Communication, Mathematics, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology, Theatre and Dance, World Languages and Cultures, and the Programs in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution Studies, Environmental Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Below is an overview of the conference, events included with conference registration and the special events available for additional registration:
• Thursday, Feb. 21
7 p.m., Plowden Auditorium, Withers/W.T.S. Building
Keynote address by Edge who will speak on “Yazoo Soul Food and Mexican Po-Boys: Pasts
and Futures of Southern Foodways.”
(included with conference registration)
8:30-10 p.m. Reception following the keynote address will be held at Rock Hill Brewing
Company and catered by Dan “The Pigman” Huntley.
(included with conference registration)
• Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23
Withers/W.T.S. Building
Conference sessions will take place from 8:10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and from 8:10 a.m.-1
p.m. Saturday.
(included with conference registration)
• Friday, Feb. 22
1:30-4:30 p.m., 401 Withers/W.T.S. Building
A food expo will feature growers, artisans and crafts. Among the items for sale is
a cookbook, called “Food for Thought,” with two to three recipes and descriptions
from English department faculty. Proceeds will go to the English department and the
Writing Center.
(included with conference registration)
• Friday, Feb. 22
5:30 p.m., Rutledge Building
A reception will be held to introduce a Winthrop Galleries exhibition that features
works from artist Kristen Stolle’s “Selective Memory.”
(included with conference registration)
• Friday, Feb. 22
7:15 p.m., Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church
Chow Club Atlanta, a monthly underground supper club which was founded by Rock Hill
native Amanda Plumb and Yohana Solomon, will host a special Ethiopian dinner. The
$40 tickets must be purchased in advance on the group’s website.
• Saturday, Feb. 23
2-4:30 p.m., Slow Play Brewery
The York County Brew Trail will start at Slow Play Brewery and will visit five area
breweries.
$20 fee.
View a detailed conference program.
There is a cost to attend the conference, and the public is invited. Register now, and attendees are encouraged to bring canned goods that will be donated to local food pantries.
General questions may be addressed to foodconference@winthrop.edu.
