Skipper and Wharton Publish Research on Lafayette Mardi Gras Celebrations

Dr. Jodi Skipper and Dr. David Wharton have been documenting and studying black Mardi Gras celebrations in Lafayette, Louisiana for several years. Their research was just published in the Summer 2015 issue of The Southern Quarterly, a publication of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Center Faculty and Students Visit Site of Till Trial

Last Friday, August 28, was the 60th Anniversary of the murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. On Saturday, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner hosted several commemoration events, including tours of the newly renovated Sumner County Courthouse, where Till’s murderers were acquitted. Faculty members Ted Ownby, Jessie Wilkerson, Jodi Skipper, Katie McKee, and David Wharton attended the commemoration with several grad students. Below

Center Partners with Delta Blues Museum for Teacher Workshop Next Week

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.

Subuding Satan Turns 25

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.

Center Director Ted Ownby On Current Efforts to Remove Confederate Symbols

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.

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.”

Jodi Skipper Honored with Award of Merit for Work in Historic Preservation

Jodi Skipper

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

Dr. Kathryn McKee Wins UM Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award

The Award-Winning Katie McKee Today, during the year end College of Liberal Arts faculty meeting, Southern Studies and English professor Dr. Kathryn McKee received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award. McKee, who serves as Graduate Studies Director for Southern Studies, previously received the CLA’s Cora Lee Graham Award for Outstanding Teaching of Freshmen in