Jacob Steere-Williams, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the History of Medicine at the College of Charleston. He is also the Associate Editor of the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. His teaching and research focus on historical and contemporary debates over disease, public health, and race. He is the author of the 2020 book The Filth Disease: Typhoid Fever and the Practices of Epidemiology in Victorian England, and the 2023 volume, Port Cities of the Atlantic World: Sea-Facing Histories of the US South.

Dr. Steere-Williams will be presenting his talk, "Pandemic Futures: Preparing for Health Crises in the Holy City"

Epidemic preparedness has taken on new social capital since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet, communities—and nations—have long anticipated pandemic crises into a public health philosophy of the ‘next.’ It has always been an unsteady future. In this talk, Dr. Steere-Williams explores the vibrant, and sometimes unsettling history of how historical memory plays into public health preparedness, and how local repositories of pandemic history can contribute to ongoing public conversations and policy discussions. Although national in scope, he draws on the rich local history of Charleston for many of his examples.

Ann Caldwell and the Magnolia Singers is an a cappella group that performs Gullah spirituals, and stories indigenous to the South Carolina Lowcountry. The group was founded in 1998. The Magnolia Singers have performed for Charleston Mayor John Tecklinburg’s 2020 Inauguration, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Toni Morrison, Emmy-award winner, Phylicia Rashad, nationally acclaimed artist, Jonathan Green, and actor, Isaiah Washington. Their voices have been used for a work by Gimlet production entitled “Uncivil” and “Cheating the Stillness” by Gayla Jamison.

Current members of the group are Ann Caldwell, Yvonne Brown, Elaine Singleton, John Smalls, Patricia Jones and Crystal Kornickey.

AsiahMae, stylized A$iahMae, (they/she) is a Black, non-binary Southern writer, humorist and cultural worker with roots in the Southeastern US. A multi-hyphenated artist, their background spans across film, curation, production, performance and language arts. They are currently serving as the Second Poet Laureate of Charleston, SC.

The International African American Museum tells the unvarnished stories of the African American experience across generations, the trauma and triumph that gave rise to a resilient people. IAAM is located at a former shipping wharf where approximately 40% of the nation's enslaved persons disembarked. The museum opened June 27, 2023, after 20 years of planning.

Seth Gilliard is a Thirty year-old native of Charleston, South Carolina and 2012 graduate of Furman University. An aspiring young musician, Seth graduated from Furman with a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance. He was concertmaster of the Furman Symphony Orchestra from 2009 until 2012. He has also been featured as a soloist with the Furman Symphony Orchestra, the Southcoast Symphony Orchestra, the Anderson Symphony Orchestra and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Seth continues to work with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, as an artist in residence this year and last, bringing his “Classical-Fusion” program to schools and performance venues in the area. Although Seth has been classically trained for seventeen plus years, he comfortably embraces various genres of music from jazz to pop and has a budding career as a contemporary violinist. His first major showcase came in 2009, when Seth performed for Oprah Winfrey and a host of other celebrity guests at a retirement party in New York City for Susan Taylor, former editor of Essence Magazine. Seth has also had great success on YouTube with his improvisatory remixes of popular songs and original music, reaching well over two million cumulative views on his videos. He gained national attention in 2012 after being featured in online articles by ABC and CBS News and more recently, Seth was selected for and took third place in a nationwide YouTube music video contest hosted by Ryan Seacrest in 2014. For the past few years, Seth has been focusing on his career as a performer and recording artist, growing his brand and releasing various projects including a mixtape of his most popular remixes, an original pop album and an original holiday album. 

 For 10 years Michelle Summers was an Electrical Lighting engineer. She did this until May of 2015 where she decided to become a full time Event Planner and Designer. This would become the start of an eventful journey for her. Making her mark in Charleston was the goal but it went outside of the perimeters of Charleston. Michelle absolutely loves creating amazing floral experiences! With now having 14 years of event design experience, she has had the opportunity to meet and design with some of the industry’s top & leading designers and clients. Just to name a few David Tutera, Preston Bailey, and many others. Along this path she also connected designers from all over the world by curating one of the largest floral conferences in the southeastern region, The Floral Encounter.

From clients to fellow designers, Michelle simply prides herself on changing the world one design at a time. January 2024, she opened Herby’s Flower Shop which allowed the public to enjoy her designs everyday. On this journey she met some of the youths of the community where her store is found and was able to provide summer jobs and now, she has afforded the opportunity to give them space to create their Palmetto Roses at events. This allows her to teach them business skills, social skills and Michelle gets to learn from these young men and women about what they want and their future. The Palmetto Rose Designers, as she like to call them have had a significant impact on the culture here in Charleston. She wants to make sure the Palmetto Rose designers are heard and seen for their gifts and talents that helps keep the skill prominent to the Charleston culture.