This is the first week of classes for our new students in the Southern Studies Master’s degree program. We’ll have a more detailed story soon with bios for each student, but for now, here’s a photo taken by Jimmy Thomas on the steps of Barnard Observatory last Friday at orientation.
Occasionally, faculty members teach classes for the first time as special topics, generally on timely topics or topics that are particularly relevant to their field or research. Sometimes these classes are taught again, but only periodically. This fall, the Southern Studies program is offering two such special-topics graduate-level seminars.
The August issue of Living Blues is available now and features our cover story on Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater. Clearwater turned 80 earlier this year and we decided it was a good time to catch up with one of Chicago Blues’ elder statesman.
The new issue also includes a look back at the life and career of the King of the Blues, B.B. King. First, we examine King’s career and influence as covered via the pages of LB. Writer David Whiteis’ tribute gives an overview of King’s life and influence and we wrap things up with a decade-by-decade guide to B.B. King’s albums.
On Wednesday, September 9 at 7pm in the University’s Nutt Auditorium, Theda Perdue of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will present the 2015 Gilder-Jordan Lecture in Southern History. Earlier in the day, Dr. Perdue will meet with graduate students in history and Southern Studies. Perdue’s talk is entitled “Indians and Christianity in …
The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale is offering a 3-Day Teachers Workshop covering the Mississippi Blues Trail on Tuesday, July 28 – Thursday, July 30. Several people from the Center and the University will be helping, including Ted Ownby, Scott Barretta of Highway 61 Radio, Greg Johnson of the University Blues Archive, and Derrick Harriell of the UM Department of English.
Would you like to join us in Barnard Observatory? The Center is now hiring for a part-time staff position who will handle general organizational and clerical tasks, serve as Building Mayor of Barnard, work with calendars and scheduling, and the like. For all the details and to apply, visit the University’s posting on the HR site.
This week, my book Subduing Satan: Recreation, Religion, and Manhood in the Rural South, 1865-1920, turns 25 years old. I remember the date because the book showed up in my mailbox the weekend I turned 30. As birthdays go, the 25th year of a work of history really doesn’t call for or deserve much attention. But it intrigues me to think about it, so I hope anyone reading this will forgive me if writing about my aging book seems a combination of self-congratulation, penitence, and nostalgia. Heaven knows southern history already has plenty of all three.
I’m not absolutely sure I need a state flag. I don’t wave state flags or salute them or wear them on my clothing. But as a resident of Mississippi since the 1980s and as scholar and teacher in History and Southern Studies, I want a different flag than the one we have. I want a state flag that stands for equal access to the law, to education, to health care, and to safety and respect.
June Issue of Living Blues The June issue of Living Blues covers the Holmes Brothers in what has become their final interview. Sherman and Wendell Holmes and Poppy Dixon each speak and tell their story about their lives, music, and friendships in the blues world. Sadly, Wendell Holmes’ health has worsened and Poppy Dixon died …
Jake Xerxes Fussell’s self-titled solo debut album showcases his folk and blues roots. The Southern Studies alum (MA 2013) says that the album came together fairly easily, with most of the basic tracking done one afternoon at Bruce Watson’s studio in Water Valley, Mississippi, with tracking and mixing at Mark Nevers’s studio in Nashville.