Join Us to Celebrate 20 Years of the Abbeville Institute!

The Abbeville Institute was founded in 2002 in order to explore what is true and valuable in the Southern tradition. In that time, many of our students have received advanced degrees, our affiliated scholars have written dozens of books, while our educational programs have reached millions of people around the globe. We have much to celebrate as an organization, but little did we know in 2002 that the culture, traditions, symbols, and history of the South would become the main focus of the current culture war. What does the Southern tradition mean for the 21st century? What value can modern Americans find in the American South?

Join us at beautiful Callaway Resort and Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA for fellowship, celebration, and answers to these questions. Callaway Gardens embodies the spirit of the Southern tradition. With 2500 private acres of nature, walking, hiking, and biking trails, the Cecil B. Day Butterfly center, the rustic Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel with beautiful stained glass and a working pipe organ, Robin Lake Beach, world class golf, and exquisite Southern gardens, Callaway Gardens is a destination that combines the best elements of the South. The azaleas will be blooming in April, making the Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl one of the highlights of the property.

We will spend time in the gardens along with first class lectures and Southern fellowship.

The $400 conference fee covers all lectures, a reception on Thursday, April 13, and lunch and supper on April 14 and 15 along with all day refreshments and snacks.

Final Schedule:

Thursday, April 13:

3:00-5:00: Check-in

5:00-6:30: Supper on your own

6:30-7:30: Reception

7:30-8:30: Bill Wilson: “Thomas Jefferson: University Founder and Virginia Rebel”

8:30- Conviviality

Friday, April 14:

7:00-4:00: Breakfast and Afternoon “Break” Provided

9:00-10:00: Brion McClanahan: “Continuity and the Southern Tradition”

10:00-11:00: Bill Watkins: “Taming the Administrative State: Ideas from the Southern Tradition”

11:00-12:00: Tom Daniel: “Southern Music and the Digital Death Sentence of the 21st Century”

12:00-1:00: Lunch

1:00-2:00: Brad Green: “Partial and Intriguing Victories: The Southern Tradition in the 21st Century”

2:00-3:00: Clyde Wilson: “Memory, Imagination, and Reason—the Southern Tradition in a Declining American Empire”

3:00-4:30: Michael Givens: “This Happy Land”

6:00-7:00: Supper

7:00-8:00: Paul Gottfried: “Can Southern Conservatism Survive?”

8:00- Conviviality

Saturday, April 15:

Breakfast on your own

9:00-12:00: Time in the Gardens

12:00-1:00: Lunch

1:00-2:00: Jeff Rogers: “Reflections on Southern Identity in the 21st Century”

2:00-3:00: Carey Roberts: “Lost in Acres of Insanity”

3:00-4:00: Twenty Years of the Abbeville Institute Special Presentation

6:00-7:00: Supper

7:00-8:00: Don Livingston: “Will the Stone the Builders Rejected become the Cornerstone?”

8:00- Conviviality

Sunday, April 16:

Checkout

The Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens is a certified four diamond hotel with an award winning restaurant. Guests to the event are encouraged to make room reservations as soon as possible. You can reserve a room by calling 855-706-4317. Room rates are $229 plus $30 resort fee and taxes per night. Guests have access to the Gardens.

Registration is now closed.