Blair-Rockefeller Legacy Series

University of Arkansas Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society logoDiane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society – Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Conferences

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute’s emphasis on the relationship between education and economics, race relations, the environment, and the implications of scientific and technological change complement the mission of The Diane D. Blair Center for Southern Politics and Society.

Working together, the Rockefeller Institute and the Blair Center will not only be able to combine the unique strengths associated with the faculty and staff in each organization, but also will combine resources allowing each to accomplish significantly more than acting alone.
 
In the spring of 2009, the first Blair-Rockefeller Legacy Series Conference (formerly the Blair Legacy Series) turned the critical spotlight on eminent political scientist V.O. Key, Jr., on the 60th anniversary of his seminal work, Southern Politics in State and Nation. A group of interdisciplinary scholars gathered at Winthrop Rockefeller Institute to debate what elements of Key’s work remain valid and to discuss aspects the eminent social scientist might have overlooked in his 1940s research. 
 
Led by keynote speaker, Byron E. Shafer of the University of Wisconsin, the group of scholars included: Harold Stanley, Susan MacManus, Margaret Reid, Keith Gaddie, Kari Frederickson, Charles Reagan Wilson, Pearl K. Ford, and Dan T. Carter. A collected volume of their contributions is being edited by Todd G. Shields and assistant professor, Angie Maxwell, and is due to be published in the fall of 2010 by the University of Arkansas Press.