Nestled along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the N.C. mountains, Lake Logan might seem an unlikely place to sponsor an academic discussion on the history of Western civilization. But that’s exactly what Raleigh lawyer Ward Purrington has in mind for this rural mountain setting just outside Asheville.
The Appalachian Institution is a weeklong retreat, which Purrington calls a summer camp for adults. While the camp, conducted at Lake Logan, offers typical mountain activities, such as hiking and boating, it also educates attendees about where the West came from and where it’s going.
Purrington, who was a member of the General Assembly in the early 1970s and in the cabinet of former Gov. James Martin a decade later, created the nonprofit institution to help adults learn about the foundations of the free world. The Raleigh native has a keen interest in the goal, he said, because in today’s culture the West’s history is neglected in favor of diversity and multiculturalism.
“We in the West should at least have an understanding of our civilization, and then we can decide for ourselves whether it is a better way to have gone than the other civilizations,” Purrington said.
In addition to the threat of multiculturalism, Purrington is concerned about the increasing emphasis on moral license rather than freedom in the West. “As freedom has grown, it has in many cases become license,” he said. “With freedom comes responsibility, and if you don’t exercise responsibility, then you eventually lose freedom.”
The retreat’s sessions this year will feature two scholars — Dr. Thomas F.X. Noble, who will discuss the history and lessons of the West, Aug. 10-15; and Dr. Alan Charles Kors, who will lecture on the Enlightenment, Aug. 24-29.
Classes will be conducted in the mornings, and a variety of activities, including courses in language, art history, and jewelry design, will be available in the afternoons, Purrington said.
Alternatively, participants can play sports such as touch football or softball, or go swimming, boating, or fishing on the lake. Classical and bluegrass concerts, stage performances, and square dancing will be offered at night.
“Unlike children’s camp, you are not required to participate in anything, but it’s all there, it’s all offered, and there is a lot to do if you want to do it,” Purrington said.
The retreat offers an assortment of rustic, yet comfortable, cabins for lodging, Purrington said. Also included will be three meals and a commons room for relaxing with friends.
This summer’s session will be the first for the institution, which was chartered in February 2007. Lake Logan is owned by the Episcopal Church and rented out to groups, but Purrington said he hopes to one day purchase land and designate it specifically for the retreat.
He also hopes to expand the number of topics covered in the lectures and discuss subjects such as the ethics of embryonic stem-cell research and the conflict between the Muslim faith and Christianity.
“My goal is to have scholastic presentations as opposed to political presentations,” he said. “My eventual goal, if I can generate enough support, is to have two lecturers and to present both sides of an issue, and to have real debate over a period of days between a liberal approach and a conservative approach. People would really have the opportunity to evaluate the positions and the rationale.”
On the topics scheduled for this year’s session of the institution, Purrington hopes to give older adults, who may not have had a chance to learn much about the history of Western civilization, the opportunity to debate and discuss it.
“What I think a great number of people don’t understand is the shoulders we stand on, so to speak,” Purrington said. “They don’t understand the heritage that we have in our civilization. They don’t understand where things came from.”
To learn more, visit www.appalachianinstitution.org
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.