When the archives closed due to COVID-19, Keon Burns had to change his original idea for his thesis and focus on something closer to home. So he chose a paper he wrote for Catarina Passidomo’s SST 555: Foodways course about his great-grandparents’ grocery store in Bolton, Mississippi. That paper morphed into “Black Grocers, Black Activism, …
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Andrea Morales captures images of race and history with “Roll Down Like Water”
Andrea Morales used her photographic lens to focus on Memphis, Tennessee as a place of resistance. While working on her M.F.A. in Documentary Expression, she captured images regarding representation, race, history, and memory titled “Roll Down Like Water.” She successfully defended this thesis project April 19, with her committee W. Ralph Eubanks, visiting professor of …
Christian Leus brings true crime to life with thesis project
While doing historical research on her hometown of Altheimer, Arkansas, Southern Studies graduate student Christian Leus stumbled across an article about a 19-year-old girl named Irene Taylor. The girl was murdered in 1939, with her body dumped into the bayou that runs through town. “It turns out, she was a distant cousin of mine!” Leus …
Christina Huff documents “Queer Subculture in the Conservative South”
An assignment for a documentary class ended up expanding into a thesis for Christina Huff. In 2019, Huff enrolled in John Rash’s class and had to document a small community. She decided to attend a drag show in Tupelo, Mississippi and reach out to the group of performers. “I had gauged the interest of two …
Oxford Conference for the Book goes virtual this week
The Oxford Conference for the Book, the longest-running event produced by the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, goes virtual this week. Five sessions are available to watch anytime here, with accompanying live Square Books events, including: Thursday, March 11, at 5:00 p.m. CST: A Live Square Books event on Zoom …
Brian Foster to Give UM Humanities Lecture March 8
Brian Foster, who was named Mississippi Humanities Teacher of the Year for the University of Mississippi, will give a lecture next week. Foster, assistant professor of sociology and Southern Studies, is planning his Humanities Council lecture “I Don’t Like the Blues: A Lesson on Listening,” virtually at 4 p.m. March 8. To register for the …
Living Blues features California bluesman Kirk “Eli” Fletcher
Living Blues Issue #271 features California bluesman Kirk “Eli” Fletcher who fell in love with the guitar early and has spent his entire life following that passion. From the church to the blues stage, Fletcher is now one of the brightest lights in the blues. Phoenix-based Lucius Parr may not have followed a common path in the blues but …
Updated SouthTalks Registration
We’ve had technical difficulties, so please re-register for our SouthTalks. Visit https://southernstudies.olemiss.edu/events/southtalks/ for updated registration information. Our next two SouthTalks are Wednesday, March 3 at noon with Margaret A. Hagerman discussing her book “White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America,” with updated registration available here, and Friday, March 5 at noon with …
Oxford Conference for the Book Goes Online
Sessions go live for 27th event beginning March 8 Much like everything else in 2020, the Oxford Conference for the Book, the longest-running event produced by the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, had to be canceled because of COVID-19 a mere two weeks before the event. This year won’t exactly …
Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration to focus on Southern Environments
Annemarie Anderson is a William Winter Scholar representing the University of Mississippi at the 32nd Annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, a virtual event to be held on Feb. 22-27. Anderson said being a William Winter Scholar will give her the opportunity to learn more from humanities scholars who study place and environment. “In my …