SouthDocs Welcomes New Filmmaker John Rash

John Rash is a filmmaker, photographer, and video artist who earned his M.F.A. in Experimental and Documentary Art from Duke University in 2014. He has worked as a freelance photographer and college instructor for more than 15 years and comes to the University of Mississippi after spending the past three years in Shanghai, China.

2017 SST Paper and Project Awards Announced

2017 SST Paper and Project Awards Announced Today at our annual Southern Studies Graduation Lunch honoring BA and MA graduates of the program, we announced paper and documentary projects awards. Kathryn James, Gray Award for undergraduate scholarship in Southern Studies: “African American Kitchen Workers in a University of Mississippi Greek House,” a SST 401 paper,

Summer and Fall Events Celebrate THE MISSISSIPPI ENCYCLOPEDIA

The Center, working with the University Press of Mississippi, independent booksellers, and cultural and academic institutions throughout the state, has planned a number of events celebrating the publication of The Mississippi Encyclopedia for the summer and fall of 2017. Each event will include talks by speakers like Encyclopedia senior editors Ted Ownby and Charles Reagan Wilson, subject editors, and scholar-contributors to the volume. We’ll announce who will speak at each event soon.

An Interview with Dr. D’Andra Orey

Dr. D’Andra Orey of Jackson State University gave a Brown Bag talk on Wednesday, April 12 as part of the Center’s Radical South Brown Bag Series, presented in partnership with the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies. Documentarian Chris Colbeck interviewed him about his research, and you can watch the interview here.

Center Partners with Isom Center for Radical South Month

The Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, in collaboration with other departments and centers at the University of Mississippi, are cosponsoring a series of lectures, roundtables, and presentations in April 2017 under the umbrella “The Radical South.” The month-long series seeks to complicate conventional narratives about the South, southern identity, race, and romanticized notions of region.

Charles Reagan Wilson Honored with Obama Fellowship

Charles Reagan Wilson’s international reputation as an expert on southern culture led to his selection for a fellowship in Germany last November.

“As an Obama Fellow, my responsibilities were to give a series of lectures at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, at Johannes Gutenberg University in Gersheim, and at the Philipps-Universität Marburg,” said Wilson, professor emeritus of history and Southern Studies. “My lecture topics included ‘The American South in the Obama Era’ and ‘Trump’s South.’ That last one was the one stirring up the most interest. I also lectured on ‘Creativity in Southern Culture,’ ‘The Southern Way of Life,’ and ‘Religion in the Civil Rights Era.’”

Watch SHAKE ‘EM ON DOWN on PBS

You can now watch the SouthDocs film Shake ‘Em on Down by Joe York and Scott Barretta online through the Reel South initiative. Reel South is the result of a partnership between UNC-TV and SCETV and the Southern Documentary Fund, and highlights the documentaries from around the region, making them available through public broadcasting stations.

Conference for the Book Coming Up March 29-31

For those who relish getting lost in a good story, the 24th annual Oxford Conference for the Book is an opportunity to gather with authors, editors and scholars. On March 29-31, the conference at the University of Mississippi, which is free and open to the public, includes readings, panel discussions and lectures by award-winning writers and first-time novelists.