Review of 2008 Retreats

In August, 2008, Lake Logan Center near Waynesville, NC was the venue for the inaugural Retreats of The Appalachian Institution, a residential adult education program   featuring lectures by prominent scholars, evening cultural performances and a multitude of learning, sporting and mountaineering activities during the afternoon.

In two five-day retreats, The Appalachian Institution laid a firm foundation for the future. Nicknamed "summer camp for grown-ups", the Retreats attracted 128 participants from ten states and Canada. Although most were from Southeastern states,   Delaware, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri were also represented. Participant Evaluations elicited an enthusiastic response both to the meals and accommodations at Lake Logan and to the program presented by the Appalachian Institution.

A piano recital by Dr. John Cheek, Professor of Music at Lenoir- Rhyne College led off the entertainment the first evening, followed on subsequent evenings by bluegrass music from The Stony Creek Boys, a choral music concert by Singers of the North Carolina Master Chorale from Raleigh, a performance of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" by the Montfort Park Players of Asheville and concluding on Thursday evening with a classical concert by the eight member Appalachian Institution String Ensemble. The Music Director for both Retreats was Alfred E. Sturgis, who also directed both the Chorale and Ensemble programs.

Both Retreats offered three hours of lecture each morning. The first session featured Professor Thomas F. X. Noble speaking on "The Foundations of Western Civilization", which developed the basic themes of Western Civilization from its origins in the ancient Near East in about 3000 BC up until the Reformation.

Dr. Noble has his PhD. from Michigan State University and taught for 20 years at The University of Virginia before going to Notre Dame, where he is Chair of the History Department and Robert M. Conway Director of The Medieval Institute.

The second session featured Professor Alan Charles Kors, whose topic was "The Enlightenment: A critical Turning Point in Western Civilization". His lectures explored the intellectual revolution between 1600 and 1800 which changed Europeans way of looking at the world and continues to have a profound effect on human life today. The philosophers of The Enlightenment were particularly influential in the thinking of the founders of the United States. Dr. Kors (B.A., M.A. Princeton; PhD Harvard) is Professor of History at The University of Pennsylvania where he has taught for 30 years.   He is Editor-in-Chief of the four volume Encyclopedia of The Enlightenment.

Afternoon activities at the Retreats were somewhat limited by low water levels in the beautiful Lake Logan, but there was plenty of action to keep folks out of trouble. Spanish, art history, painting, jewelry design, photography and fly fishing lessons combined with golf, tennis, hiking, reading, and talks on floral design, architecture, investments and world health to provide a variety of interests for all.