Cultural Conversations

A series of discussions regarding cultural and racial issues... CULTURAL CONVERSATIONS

story by Kimberly Brauss

Francis Marion University’s African American Faculty and Staf Coalition kicked of its new season of Cultural Conversations with an Oct. 18 forum on Slavery’s Legacy, Past and Future. FMU professors Dr. Louis Venters and Dr. Erica Edwards presented during the forum. The forums are ofered not only to FMU’s students, staf, and faculty, but also to the public as a way to prompt public conversation and come together as a community for a moral revolution. “It’s so important for our community to have opportunities to learn more about and discuss our shared history, especially at a time when it seems clearer than ever that the country’s past is contested territory,” Dr. Louis Venters, Francis Marion University professor, told VIP magazine. “One thing our community in the Pee Dee can do to help is to come together, in this forum and many others, to focus our minds and hearts on how we can get as clear a picture of the past as possible and really understand how societies work,” Venters continued. “If we’re going to make this a country where everybody gets to contribute and everybody belongs, we’re going to have to have a better narrative about who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going. And that’s something that every individual has a part in, not just the ‘experts.’” Venters talked about each generation’s right to the importance of understanding the truth of history, not a skewed understanding of who we are.

“The generation and application of knowledge and understanding about the past rightfully belongs to everyone – not just to professional scholars, not just to journalists or political elites or big donors but the whole community. … We all deserve history,” Venters said. “We all need history so that we can understand better how societies work and change and respond to challenges and so that we can better envision the kind of world we want to build. History belongs to everyone and so does the future.” Another way Francis Marion University is collaborating with the community is by becoming part of the initiative Universities Studying Slavery, FMU’s Dr. Erica Edwards announced during her presentation. The multi-institutional collaboration was created and led by the University of Virginia in 2014. Today there are more than 75 institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada that are members. FMU joined in September 2021.

The initiative is dedicated to truth-telling projects addressing research, acknowledgment, and atonement “regarding institutional ties to the slave trade, to enslavement on campus or abroad, and to enduring racism in school history and practice.” “To a large degree, what we’re talking about is not just the fate of our community and our country, but the fate of the whole world,” Venters said.

CULTURAL CONVERSATION SERIES

The series takes place from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the FMU Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence. Each conversation will be 45 minutes for the presentation with 15-20 minutes reserved for a question-and-answer portion. A virtual option is available for those who would like to attend online. And the live stream link will be emailed out before each session.

CONVERSATION 2– Thursday, November 18 Bordering Democracy: Racial and Class Inequality in Access to Political and Public Squares Dr. Jennifer Titanski-Hooper and Dr. Dillon Tatum

CONVERSATION 3– Tuesday, February 2 Hair Like Mine With Dr. Shayna Wrighten

CONVERSATION 4– Thursday, March 10 Development, race, and ethnicity: The diferences known With Dr. Teresa Herzog

Francis Marion University is pleased to ofer participants will receive 1.5 Continuing Education credits for each event. Those who attend all four events will receive six CEUs.

For more information, visit lavery.virginia.edu For more information on the Cultural Conversation series, visit fmarion.edu/aafsc/