Noted educator, historian and writer Leon Botstein will be the keynote speaker at a statewide conference on the Humanities hosted by UNC Asheville and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College on September 14-15. The conference, "The Humanities and Social Justice: Teaching for the Public Good," is sponsored by the Humanities Educators of North Carolina (HENC).

Botstein, who is president of Bard College, is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and other national forums of public discourse. His talk, "Social Justice and Humanities Education," will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, at A-B Tech's Laurel Auditorium. The talk is free and open to the public.

The two-day conference will focus "on the ways in which the Humanities contributes to the shaping of ethical responses to social problems in the public arena," said Edward Katz, a UNCA literature professor and member of the conference steering committee. "The Humanities explores the human experience through literature, art, philosophy, religion, history, all of which help create culture. Understanding how cultures shape their values can help us live more thoughtfully and humanely. The mission of this conference and of HENC is to advocate for the role of the Humanities in higher-education curricula and promote the Humanities in public dialogue," Katz said.

Some 75 faculty and administrators from University of North Carolina sister institutions and the state's community college system are expected to attend. Conference speakers will discuss UNCA's Humanities Program, which serves as a national model for other institutions, and the UNCA/A-B Tech Bridge Program, which offers UNCA's Humanities courses at A-B Tech for students considering transferring to UNCA.

For additional conference information, call UNCA's Humanities Program at 251-6808 or click here.