Great Minds Lecture Series continues with ‘Plantation Dreams’

March 6, 2017

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences’ (CLASS) 2017 Great Minds Lecture Series continues with Robert Batchelor, Ph.D., on Tuesday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. as he discusses, “Plantation Dreams: Locke, Confucius and the Making of the Low Country.” The lecture will take place in the Russell Union, room 2047.

His lecture will focus on how society’s understanding of the political and economic thinking of the southern colonies emerged in the context of global debates about how to constitute governments.

“The Glorious Revolution in Britain (1688-9) was an important antecedent for the American Revolution. Most commonly, this is associated with the thought of John Locke, who wrote the famous ‘Two Treaties on Government’ (1689) and had a hand in writing the first constitution of the Carolinas (1669),” said Batchelor. “More surprisingly, French ideas about the virtues of agrarian society in China — ‘The Morals of Confucius’ (1694) — also played a role in shaping early ideas about the plantation society of the South, the nature of political authority, and its connection to moral virtue.”

“Two Treaties on Government” and “The Morals of Confucius” will both be on display at the lecture. These documents will be on display through May 5 at the Zach S. Henderson Library’s Remnant Trust Exhibit. Also on display from the Library’s Special Collections is Richard Walter’s, “A Voyage Around the World.”

Batchelor is a professor of history and director of the Digital Humanities program, and joined CLASS in 2002. He graduated with a Ph.D. from UCLA in 1999 and is the author of “London: The Selden Map and the Making of a Global City, 1549-1687” and co-designer of the board game “Fujian Trader.”

For more information on the 2017 Great Minds Lecture and to view a full schedule of the lectures please visit class.georgiasouthern.edu/greatminds.

The Remnant Trust was founded in 1997 and is a Non-Profit 501(c)(3) organization. The Trust makes available to the general public a world class collection of manuscripts, 1st and early edition works, for use in original form. The mission of The Remnant Trust is to elevate educational standards & the public’s understanding of individual liberty & human dignity through the precedent setting, hands on availability of the world’s great ideas in original form. For more information on the documents on display at Georgia Southern University please visit http://georgiasouthern.libguides.com/remnanttrust.

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the largest of the eight colleges that make up Georgia Southern University, and it plays a central role in every student’s core of knowledge. CLASS, also described as the University’s College of the Creative Mind, prepares students to achieve academic excellence, develop their analytical skills, enhance their creativity and embrace their responsibilities as citizens of their communities, their nations and the world. CLASS offers more than 20 undergraduate degrees and several interdisciplinary minors from its 11 departments and five academic centers. CLASS offers eight master’s degrees, two graduate certificates and one doctoral degree. For more information, visit class.georgiasouthern.edu.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving 20,673 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.