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.
Blog
June LIVING BLUES on Newsstands
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 …
Alum Jake Fussell Releases Debut Album, To Play Concert This Sunday
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.
Two Faculty Members Take Study of US South Abroad
Two Southern Studies assistant professors are getting to use their passports this summer as recipients of the Provost’s Faculty Development Award for Campus Internationalization. Catarina Passidomo heads to Peru May 31–June 10 for “Peruvian Food Systems: Balancing Growth and Preservation,” and Jodi Skipper goes to Senegal June 7–17 for “Islam, Politics, and Culture in Senegal and West Africa.”
Southern Studies MA Program Draws Students from Abroad
This article, by James G. Thomas, Jr., appears in the Spring 2015 issue of the Southern Register. Southern Studies Draws Students from Abroad The Center for the Study of Southern Culture is not unfamiliar to guests and visitors from beyond US borders. Whether they be scholars, students, or enthusiasts of Southern culture in general, the …
SouthDocs Film Wins Emmy for Best Historical Documentary
The Toughest Job: William Winter’s Mississippi, a film by Matthew Graves of the Southern Documentary Project, won an Emmy for best historical documentary from the Southeast division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The awards were announced on Saturday, June 6 in Atlanta, and Graves attended the ceremony. “It was such an …
Dr. Jessie Wilkerson Wins Award from the Labor and Working Class History Association
Dr. Jessica Wilkerson, who just completed her first year as Assistant Professor of History and Southern Studies, has just won an award from the Labor and Working Class History Association for her dissertation, “Where Movements Meet: From the War on Poverty to Grassroots Feminism in the Appalachian South.”
Jodi Skipper Honored with Award of Merit for Work in Historic Preservation
We’ve discussed Dr. Jodi Skipper’s work on the Behind the Big House project on the blog before. Here, news of a much-deserved honor for Dr. Skipper. This article, by Center intern Emily Beene, appears in the Spring 2015 issue of the Southern Register. Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Southern Studies Honored with Award of Merit …
B. B. King, Honorary Professor of Southern Studies
As B. B. King is laid to rest Saturday in Indianola, we wanted to share footage from the 2004 Blues Today Symposium when the Center named King an Honorary Professor of Southern Studies. Charles Reagan Wilson, then Director of the Center, conveys the honor. Greg Johnson of the Blues Archive did a public interview with …