Religion and the Liberal Arts

Vanishing Appalachia:
Keeping Faith on
Uneven Ground

February 19-20, 2010
Piedmont College Athens Campus and
The Classic Center
Athens, Georgia

Author and preacher Barbara Brown Taylor will lead a symposium at Piedmont College in Athens that will examine the role of religion in Appalachian culture.

The third in a series of annual conferences on “Religion and the Liberal Arts,” the symposium is titled “Vanishing Appalachia: Keeping Faith on Uneven Ground” and will include workshops on Appalachian religion and culture, ranging from shapes-note singing to storytelling.

The conference will be held Feb. 19-20, 2010, and is open to the public. Registration information can be found at the college website, www.piedmont.edu. The fee for the two-day conference is $125, which includes the Feb. 19 banquet, book-signing, and keynote speech at the Athens Classic Center; as well as the lecture, workshops, and two meals on Feb. 20 at the Piedmont College Athens Campus.

Taylor, who will deliver the keynote address at the banquet, is the Butman Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Piedmont, where she has taught since 1998. An Episcopal priest since 1984, Taylor spent 15 years in parish ministry and is the author of numerous books on religion and preaching, including “An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith.”

Author and historian Bill J. Leonard, founding Dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University, will deliver the plenary address on the topic of the demise of Appalachia. Leonard is the author of 17 books, including “Appalachian Christianity: Profiles in Regional Pluralism and Baptists in America.”  Leonard will examine how changes in population have affected small Appalachian churches and businesses.

For more information about the symposium or to register, contact Brandy Aycock at the Piedmont College campus in Demorest at 1-800-868-1641; e-mail baycock@piedmont.edu; or visit www.piedmont.edu.

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'Thank You' to everyone who made the February 2009 conference a great success.
We look forward to seeing you in 2010, and meanwhile here are photos of the 2009 symposium on "Who Is My Neighbor? A Changing Religious South."