USC Aiken Hosts State's Humanities Festival

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AIKEN, SC (04/23/2018) For the second time in its history, the University of South Carolina Aiken hosted the South Carolina Humanities Festival.

"We began the festival with the hope that local residents would better understand and appreciate what made their community unique in the past and how it is embracing the future," said Dr. Randy Akers, executive director of SC Humanities.

Events took place on campus and all over town during the three-day event. Specific activities included poetry and book readings by local authors, historical tours and enlightening discussions.

"The soul of a community of course includes its businesses and workforce and economic development, but the libraries, schools, universities, churches, museums and historical societies supplement and greatly enhance the quality of life in a community," Akers said.

"Aiken is blessed with wonderful cultural organizations. You have a chance to experience many of them [during the SC Humanities Festival]."

Dr. Tom Mack, USC Aiken professor emeritus, chaired the committee made up of university, city, civic and cultural leaders in the area. The group spent more than two years planning the festival.

A proclamation from Mayor Rick Osbon presented to Akers during the opening gala explained that for the last 45 years, SC Humanities has served as the state's program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The non-profit organization aims to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Through a series of events, including lectures, exhibits, readings, publications, and other humanities-based experiences, SC Humanities reaches more than 250,000 citizens each year.

"SC Humanities explores the rich heritage of a different municipality each year through the presentation of a South Carolina Humanities Festival," the mayoral proclamation stated.

USC Aiken last hosted the event in 1999.

"Since 1961, the University of South Carolina Aiken has been educating the citizens of our region not only through formal campus-based academic programs but also through initiatives that have enriched the lives of all those in the greater community," Osbon stated in a proclamation presented to Dr. Sandra Jordan, chancellor.

"From its very inception, USC Aiken has worked to establish and maintain strong ties to the Aiken community.

"Both on campus and off, USCA offers programming, especially in the arts and humanities, open to the citizenry as a whole."