The 6th Annual African Americans in WNC & Southern Appalachia Conference will be October 17, 18, and 19, 2019. The theme is “Existence as Resistance: Expressions of Resilience.”
More information can be found at aawnc.unca.edu.
Leadership Asheville, a program of UNC Asheville, will host its 2019 Buzz Breakfast series with the theme, “How Do We Build a Connected Community?” The breakfasts on June 20, July 25 and Aug. 14 at the Crowne Plaza Resort Asheville are open to the public and provide a chance to hear thoughtful panel discussions and network with a broad array of community leaders, including Leadership Asheville alumni.
The breakfasts will begin at 8 a.m. and the programs starts promptly at 8:30 a.m. in the Expo Center of the Crowne Plaza, 1 Resort Dr., Asheville. Tickets are $25; $60 for the series. For more information and tickets, visit the Leadership Asheville website.
What Is a Connected Community?
Kimberlee Archie, Equity and Inclusion Director, City of Asheville
Rev. Amy Cantrell, BeLoved Asheville
Keynon Lake, Founder, My Daddy Taught Me That
Stephanie Monson Dahl, Interim Assistant Director of Planning and Urban Design, City of Asheville
Darin Waters, Executive Director of Community Engagement, UNC Asheville
The Isaiah Rice Photo Exhibit will be on display at the Eagle Market Place Community Exhibition Space, 9 Eagle Street, from May 24 - August 24.
Dr. Waters will be the keynote speaker for the Buncombe County Schools’ Top Scholar Banquet. The banquet recognizes top-ranked students across traditional and specialty high schools. This is an elegant tradition for Buncombe County Schools. Dr. Waters was invited to speak in part because he is an alumnus of T.C. Roberson High School.
Dr. Waters will be presenting at the 42nd Annual Appalachian Studies Conference. The theme is “AppalachA'ville: Engage. Sustain. Innovate.”
More information at http://appalachianstudies.org/annualconference/2019.
Dr. Waters will present a talk, “Whose Story? Democratizing American’s Collective Memory,” at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Asheville Campus. Sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County in honor of Black History Month. Audience Q&A to follow presentation. Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
More information at lr.edu/asheville/asheville-campus-events
Dr. Waters will be the keynote speaker at “Unity” the 6th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast in Marion, hosted by the Mt. Zion AMEChurch.
Explore our Jacob Lawrence exhibition along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Dr. Darin J. Waters is the Executive Director of the Office of Community Engagement, and an Associate Professor of History at UNC Asheville, co-host of The Waters and Harvey Show, and scholar of African American history in Asheville. FREE.
Click here for more information.
New York Times bestselling author and columnist David Brooks will keynote the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) forum, "ReConnect To Community: Solving Problems Together for a More Prosperous Future." Other speakers at the Forum include North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, UNC Asheville Executive Director of Community Engagement Dr. Darin Waters, North Carolina State University Provost Dr. Warwick Arden, and leaders from some of the most innovative civic engagement initiatives in North Carolina.
For more information and to register for the forum, visit emergingissues.org.
Find details about the 5th Annual African Americans in WNC and Southern Appalachia Conference at aawnc.unca.edu.
The Davidson College Departments of History, Africana Studies and Educational Studies will host this talk by Dr. Waters about his grandfather Isaiah Rice's photography.
More information at davidson.edu.
Dr. Waters will be a part of the "African American Experience in Asheville" panel for the Leadership Asheville Seniors at OLLI's History Day.
Part of the Leadership Asheville Buzz Breakfast series, this event will feature a conversation about racial equity between Kimberlee Archie, Director of the Office of Equity & Inclusion of the City of Asheville, and Dr. Darin Waters.
For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
A public event to kick off the City of Asheville's Public Art and
Cultural Commission’s Visiting Artist Program. The Visiting Artist Program finalists will make presentations. Dr. Darin Waters, Councilwoman Sheneika Smith, and artist Viola Spells will share reflections on art and community.
"How will we reflect Asheville's African American Community with new public art?" This panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Darin Waters, is part of the kick off of the City of Asheville's Visiting Artist Program. The panel will include panel will include Buncombe County Commissioner Al Whitesides, along with Cortina Caldwell, Rima Vesely-Flad, Aisha Adams, Cathering Mitchell and Stephanie Hickling Bechman.
Click here for more information.
Dr. Waters will give a lecture on the history of the YMI Cultural Center as a part of the NEH 2018 Summer Institute, a two week institute that will explore the landscape and culture of the Southern Appalachian.
The Reality Check Conference is designed to encourage, empower, and educate leaders across Western North Carolina and surrounding areas on the cultural diversity challenges within our community. This conference will continue the conversation around building a better community and decreasing the gaps in disparities, education, and other social factors that play into the cultural divide of the community and city at large. Participants will also learn about local initiatives and key players who are active and directly involved in our community. Speakers include Tim Wise, Jane Elliot, and Darin Waters, Ph.D.
The conference is hosted by My Daddy Taught Me That and My Sistah Taught Me That.
For more information and to register, click here.
Dr. Waters will interview Andrew Lawler about his new book titled "The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke." Their conversation will be filmed and aired on C-SPAN Book TV.
CoThinkk is a giving circle that brings together community leaders who care about the economic and social well-being of communities of color in Asheville and Western North Carolina. Dr. Waters will be speaking at this event celebrating the graduates of CoThinkk's BluePrint Leadership Series. The series is meant to amplify innovative projects/initiatives of community leaders through strengthening effective “Alliance-Building & Collaboration.” It created a safe space to support collaboration, peer coaching, and shared learning opportunities.
More information at cothinkk.org.
Dr. Waters will speak on "African American History in Asheville and Appalachia" for the Western Carolina University leadership tour of Asheville.
This event is not open to the public.
Dr. Waters will speak on "The History and the Experiences of the African American Community in the Asheville Area." Hosted by Friends of UNC Asheville at Biltmore Lake.
You are invited to gather with staff and faculty from UNC-Chapel Hill's Center for the Study of the American South for a spirited discussion about the region's rich traditions and compelling stories. Also featuring special guest Darin Waters, professor of history at UNC-Asheville.
Your ticket ($25/person, $40/couple) includes hot snacks, cold beer, and a copy of the Appalachia Issue of our award-winning journal Southern Cultures.
Purchase tickets here and join us!
The Rotary Club of Asheville is a group of active, engaged citizens interested in making friends, building relationships, and giving back to the community.
At this meeting, Dr. Waters will speak on Collective Historical memory.
More information at rotaryasheville.org.
Dr. Waters will be the featured speaker for the Leadership Asheville critical issues forum.
More information at leadershipasheville.org.
Darin Waters, Ph.D. will be the featured speaker at Creative Mornings Asheville.
"In 2008, Tina Roth Eisenberg (Swissmiss) started CreativeMornings out of a desire for an ongoing, accessible event for New York’s creative community. The concept was simple: breakfast and a short talk one Friday morning a month. Every event would be free of charge and open to anyone.
Today, attendees gather in cities around the world to enjoy fresh coffee, friendly people, and an international array of breakfast foods. Volunteer hosts and their team members organize local chapters that not only celebrate a city’s creative talent, but also promote an open space to connect with like-minded individuals."
More information at creativemornings.com/cities/avl.
Black History talk at A-B Tech.
As 21st century America continues to reconsider monuments, building and street names, and memorials of all kinds in public spaces in light of contemporary ideas about slavery and racism, OLLI at UNC Asheville will present a distinguished panel to discuss the history and the issues. Dr. Waters will be the moderator for this panel.
Dr. Waters will speak during the service.
More information at bethhatephila.org.
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce's WomanUPprogram focuses on supporting and inspiring our community's business women. This celebration event kicks off another year of events.
This year, the Chamber is partnering with Buncombe County Schools Foundation in presenting Christine Mann Darden, retired NASA engineer and analyst and one of NASA's "human computers" as portrayed in the recent film Hidden Figures. She will be interviewed by Dr. Darin Waters, assistant professor of history at UNC Asheville.
For tickets or submit an award nomination, visit www.ashevillechamber.org/womanup
The 4th Annual UNC Asheville African Americans in WNC Conference will be held on October 19, 20 and 21. The 2017 theme is "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." The conference offers scholars and the community an opportunity to address the African American experience in Southern Appalachia, both past and present. It provides a forum to engage on the vital issues facing Appalachian communities of color. In addition to African American history, this year's conference will highlight research from UNC Asheville's State of Black Asheville classes, as well as examples of current-day community resilience.
More information at aawnc.unca.edu.