The Annual Conference of the
South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
23-25 February 2012
The
Grove Park Inn
Asheville, North Carolina
Hosted by SCSECS President Phyllis Thompson and East Tennessee State University
“Panoramas and Prospects”
Dear SCSECS 2012 Conference Participants:
Welcome to Asheville, North Carolina. If you have not been to Asheville before, you are in for a treat. Asheville sits at about 2500 feet in altitude in the western corner of North Carolina and boasts the PANORAMIC beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a progressive mountain-urban culture, and a fun and funky arts community. While I cannot predict if next February we will be enjoying big blue-sky days or snow-capped mountains, what I can certainly promise is a highlands experience you won’t soon forget. Again, welcome to the Appalachian mountain south from this year’s SCSECS conference committee and East Tennessee State University!
Phyllis Thompson
President, SCSECS
The SCSECS 2012 Conference Committee and East Tennessee State
University welcomes participants to the annual conference of the
South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Here in
the highlands of the oldest mountain range in North America, we
offer a variety of vantage points, vistas, and views from which to
explore the “panoramas and prospects” of the long
eighteenth century. We invite topics that investigate these
matters within specific literary genres, historical events,
geographic boundaries, or modes of entertainment. Of course,
our theme is merely a suggestion, and we welcome papers and panels
that address other subject areas, including art, drama, printing,
music, history, religion, race, and gender.
Our plenary address for the SCSECS 2012 conference will be given by
Judith Bailey Slagle, who has published widely in
Eighteenth-Century studies, whose
Collected Letters of Joanna Baillie and
Joanna Baillie: A Literary Life have brought to Baillie's
work the critical reception she merits, and whose
Romantic Appropriations of History: The Legends of Joanna
Baillie and Margaret Holford Hodson is forthcoming this
winter. Other special events include a musical presentation
on the evolution of Eighteenth-Century Scottish fiddle music by
Jane MacMorran and a performance of Rameau's opéra ballet
extravaganza
Les Indes Galantes. Conference attendees will also
enjoy an afternoon excursion to America's largest private
residence, the Biltmore Estate; a wine tasting on the grounds will
follow the tour of house and gardens. The official conference
festivities will close on Saturday evening with a Gathering of our
SCSECS Clan to the aires of the ETSU Celtic Band in the Skyline
View Ballroom and Mountain Terrace of The Grove Park Inn to raise a
glass to celebrate yet another conference and to make plans to meet
again.
Conference accommodations and meetings will be at the historic
Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North
Carolina. A four diamond resort, the Grove Park Inn was
constructed between 1912-1913 from granite stones that were mined
from Sunset Mountain and is known today for its distinctive red
clay tile roof, massive fireplaces, and original Roycroft
furnishings. With panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains
that will inspire and easy access to Asheville's many galleries,
cafés, bookshops, and music venues, the Grove Park offers an
unparalleled venue for this year's SCSECS conference. You can
learn more about our accommodations (including Grove Park’s
Spa) and the vibrant downtown scene in Asheville on our “
Hotel
Information” and "
Travel
Information" pages.
SCSECS attendees may also consider arriving early and staying
late. For instance, on Wednesday, attendees can enjoy a Brews
Cruise in downtown Asheville of three local micro-breweries.
See the
registration
form to select this option. SCSECS attendees may also enjoy
taking a walking tour of the Asheville art scene; touring Thomas
Wolfe’s home; eating at one of the seventy locally owned
cafés and restaurants; getting lost in the stacks at
Malaprop’s or any one of Asheville’s many used and rare
book shops; enjoying walking tours and trails that explore urban
landscapes and mountain vistas; or driving along America’s
most scenic highway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and from there
climbing to the highest point east of the Mississippi, Mt.
Mitchell. For the bold among us the region offers some of the
southeast’s finest whitewater. Like I said, plan to
arrive early and stay late!
We look forward to seeing you!
Questions regarding any information about the conference may be directed to Dr. Phyllis Thompson at THOMPSOP@ETSU.EDU .
Portions of this website have been appropriated, updated, and amalgamated from other ASECS sites hosted by other institutions.
SCSECS wishes to thank the City Arts Centre, Edinburgh, for their kind permission to use Robert Barker’s Panorama of Edinburgh from the Crown of St. Giles, 1792 on our conference website and materials. Portions of this website include details and manipulations of images from Bernardo Bellotto's Vienna, Panorama for Palais Kaunitz, 1759-1760; George Lambert’s Pastoral Landscape with Shepherds and their Flocks, 1744; Francesco Guardi’s Ladies Concert at the Philharmonic Hall, 1782; Thomas Gainsborough’s Landscape River, 1768-1770; and Conversation in a Park, 1740; and William Hogarth's Fishing Party, 1730; and Marriage à-la-mode: The Marriage Settlement, 1743. We also wish to thank The Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Biltmore Estate, and The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa for use of images throughout this website.