Preface
First-year Reading and Writing Program
Preface Goals
The intent of this series of programs is to help USC Upstate first-year students make connections to each other and to the university and community, practice skills and explore ideas that contribute to success in college, and discuss how a deeper understanding of a shared reading can inform the way we make personal decisions and influence public policy today.
Preface is a first-year reading program that introduces students to the joy of reading critically and using academic disciplines and methods to approach the complex issues in our communities, nation, and world. Preface combines guided reading of a common book with special events and discussions, in which students engage questions raised by the book with university, community and national experts. We read, think and talk together in order to see how concentrated, research-based attention to any subject can bring new solutions to light.
First-year students read the Preface text in English 101 and attend related events throughout the fall semester.
While Preface is geared primarily toward first-year students, it offers a calendar of events that are relevant to a wide range of university courses as well as the community. Events are planned in close cooperation with USC Upstate departments and organizations and are free and open to the public.
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Schedule of Events
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Session Title: Raising the Dead: ‘Resurrecting Lost Lives and Lost PlacesSession Time: 5 - 6 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center Poetry Writing Workshop for local high school students 1 - 2 p.m. |
Tuesday, September 19
Session Title: Old-Time Medicine and Women HealersSpeaker: Kristi Miller, USC Upstate Session Time: 3 - 4 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Tuesday, September 26
Session Title: The Environmental Impact of DamsSpeaker: Peter Brewitt, Wofford College Session Time: 3 - 4 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Thursday, September 28
Session Title: The Cherokee: Jocassee Valley's Original InhabitantsSpeaker: Paul Grady, USC Upstate Session Time: 10:45 - 12:00 noon Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Tuesday, October 3
Session Title: Missing Bodies and Murder MysteriesSpeaker: Michele Covington, USC Upstate Session Time: 4 - 5 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Thursday, October 12
Session Title: The History of the Jocassee ValleySpeaker: Claudia Hembree Session Time: 4 - 5 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Tuesday, October 17
Session Title: Lake Jocassee, Then and Now,Speaker: Alan Stuart, Duke Energy Session Time: 4 - 5 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Wednesday, October 25
Session Title: Veterans and PTSDSpeaker: Stefanie Keen, USC Upstate Session Time: 3 - 4 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Thursday, November 2
Session Title: Infertility as Disability: How Rhetoric Impacts Access to HealthcareSpeaker: Monika Herr, USC Upstate Session Time: 3 - 4 p.m. Location: Tukey Theater, Library Building |
Thursday, November 9
Session Title: Sheriff Alexander’s Reflections on Southern Natural HistorySpeaker: Jonathon Storm, USC Upstate Session Time: 3 - 4 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center |
Wednesday, November 15
Session Title: Global and Local Displacements: Refugees, Sex Trafficking, and the Consequences of Urban RenewalSession Time: 12 - 1:30 p.m. Location: Olin B. Sansbury, Jr. Campus Life Center Panelists
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The mission of South Carolina Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. This not-for-profit organization presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state.