Western Piedmont Community College will present the 2008 Fall Speakers Forum/Ervin Constitutional Issues Program: Of the People, By the People, For the People: Political Participation in the United States and the World the week of October 6. Presentations will examine issues including citizen political participation, voting rights, and the global spread of democracy.

The Forum will begin on Monday evening, October 6 with an historical perspective as Dr. Daniel Aldridge describes The African American Struggle for Voting Rights in the South: 1955-1970. Dr. Aldridge is a professor of history at Davidson College whose teaching fields include African American history, American history, African history, and Atlantic World history. Dr. Aldridge‘s talk will be preceded by a short concert of Freedom Songs of the Civil Rights movement.

The Speakers Forum has been an annual event at Western Piedmont for more than twenty-five years. The purpose of the forum is to examine each year a topic of national, international or local importance.  Past forums have addressed such topics as the state of the environment, the collapse of the Soviet Union, racial and ethnic hatred, executive privilege and presidential conduct, immigration and, most recently, energy. National and local experts have come to our campus to discuss these topics and have included Carl Bernstein, Ralph Nader, Sam Dash, James Meredith, Greg Mortenson and Steve Curwood.

Speakers - Click on image for larger view

Tierney Cahall

Rod Garvin

Dr. Daniel Aldridge

 

All events will be in Leviton auditorium and will be followed by a reception in the Learning Resources Center.  Please join us!