Requirements for the Major

A major in Southern studies for the B.A. degree consists of 30 hours of courses, including SST 101, 401, two courses from SST 103-118, and one SST course at the 500 level.

Students must take four elective courses from at least two different departments.  Any course cross-listed with another department can only count once toward the degree. As per requirements for a B.A. degree in the College of Liberal Arts, the SST major also requires a minor in another discipline of the student’s choosing. Popular minors include general business, history, political science, and journalism, although students have also taken on minors in natural sciences, accountancy, art, and many other subjects in the College of Liberal Arts and other UM colleges.

SOUTHERN STUDIES department:

• 101: Introduction to Southern Studies: An introductory course to the interdisciplinary study of “the South” and “southerners” via the lens of race, class, and gender, with particular focus on history, literature, music, memory, foodways, popular culture, and/or other subjects.
• 103: Southern Mythologies and Popular Culture: This course will explore one or more of the mythic Souths, using popular writing, advertising, music and music videos, film, and other visual media.
• 104: The South and Race: This course examines historical and contemporary dimensions of racial and ethnic relations in the U.S. South. The course enables students to think through their own identities, experiences, and beliefs as they learn how to approach the subject of race and ethnicity from a critical perspective.
• 105: Introduction to the South and Food
• 106: Introduction to Southern Documentary
• 107: Introduction to Gender and Sexuality in the South
• 108: Music and Southern Society: This course takes students on a tour of major regional music locales, introducing them to the wide array of southern musical artists, groups, and genres.  Notable genres examined include the blues, jazz, country, soul, rock n’ roll, and rap.
• 109: Rights and Southern Activism
• 110: Slavery and the University
• 118: Special Topics in Music
• 401: Southern Studies Seminar: An interdisciplinary seminar on method that examines the South through a close study of social groups, social structures, and social forces.
• 314: Race, Place, and Space (Same as AAS 414, GST414, SOC 414)
• 334: Introduction to Fieldwork Techniques: Interdisciplinary study of the theory, practice, and tradition of documentary field research through readings, photography, films and video tapes, audio recordings, and field notes. (Same as ANTH 534, ART 534).
• 350: The South and Sexuality (same as GST 350)
• 533: Fieldwork and Oral History: Interdisciplinary study of the theory, practice, and tradition of documentary field research through readings, photography, films and video tapes, audio recordings, and field notes. (Same as ANTH 534, ART 534)
• 534: Documentary Photography
• 535: Anthropological Films
• 536: The Southern Environment
• 537: Documenting the South in Film
• 538: Advanced Documentary Film
• 544: Advanced Documentary Photography
• 555: Foodways and Southern Culture
• 556: Heritage Tourism in the South
• 560: Oral History of Southern Social Movements
• 597, 598, and 599: Special Topics: Interdisciplinary study of specialized topics in Southern culture. May be repeated once if topic varies.

Additional departments:

Students must take 12 hours of Southern Studies electives from at least two different departments: