Brian Foster’s SST 102: The Southern Protest Mixtape

Brian Foster, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Southern Studies, is teaching Honors Southern Studies 102 this semester. The interdisciplinary course is structured as an examination of southern protest culture, and organized like a mixtape. See excerpts from his syllabus below. This is part of an occasional series in which we share syllabi from Southern Studies courses.

A Q&A with Brian Foster, New SST and Sociology Faculty Member

Brian Foster knows his way around the University of Mississippi. In fact, he won the Center’s Peter Aschoff Award for the best paper on Southern music in 2011 with his BA Honors thesis, “Crank Dat Soulja Boy: Understanding Black Male Hip-Hop Aspirations in Rural Mississippi.” This fall, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology welcome him back as a new assistant professor of sociology and Southern Studies. Foster returns to the university from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned his MA and began his PhD work. Prior to entering UNC-Chapel Hill Foster earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi.

Center to Participate in Liberal Arts Conference at Jackson State University

Faculty, staff, and a alumnus of the Center will participate in the [Re]Defining Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century Conference on the Liberal Arts next week at Jackson State University. The Conference, to be held October 6 – 8, will include a keynote address by Dr. William D. Adams, Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Brown Bag Lecture Series Analyzes Songs Sept. 28

Brown Bag Lecture Series Analyzes Songs Sept. 28 The Brown Bag Lunch and Lecture Series continues Wednesday, Sept. 28 with three faculty members who offer 10-minute analyses of individual songs of their choice. The format is an experiment to see what scholars can accomplish in a short time. Presenters, who will announce their songs as

Southern Hip-Hop Week: Day 2 – Brian Foster on Rap-centered Aspirations

Up today, an academic article by new Southern Studies faculty member Brian Foster. His article “Everybody Gotta Have a Dream”: Rap-centered Aspirations among Young Black Males Involved in Rap Music Production – A Qualitative Study” was published in 2014 in Issues in Race and Ethnicity: An Interdisciplinary Global Journal.

New Book by Darren Grem Explores Business and Evangelicalism

New Book by Darren Grem Explores Business and Evangelicalism Dr. Darren Grem joined the faculty of the University of Mississippi in 2012 as Assistant Professor of History and Southern Studies. His book, The Blessings of Business: How Corporations Shaped Conservative Christianity, just came out from Oxford University Press. The Blessings of Business details how business

The Charles Reagan Wilson Fund Campaign Reaches 109%

Thank you so much to all of the generous donors who supported the Charles Reagan Wilson Graduate Student Support Fund through Ignite Ole Miss. We reached 100% of our goal of $25,000 on Monday, two days before the deadline. The campaign ended last night, and we’ve now raised $27,346 from 185 donors. Everyone at the Center has enjoyed watching the donor wall grow with the names of friends and alumni–thank you!