A new Master of Fine Arts degree in Documentary Expression begins this fall, and prospective students are encouraged to apply before the April 13 deadline. The new MFA, housed at the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, will be a two-year (30-hour) graduate program that combines three forms of training.
The February/March 2017 issue of Living Blues features Hill Country bluesman Cedric Burnside on the cover. The grandson of the late R. L. Burnside, Cedric’s star is on the rise, and he is dedicated to keeping the sound of the Hill Country alive. Guitarist Kenny Brown was also raised in the tradition, and he shares his memories of playing with the Burnsides, Junior Kimbrough, Joe Callicott and others.
A conversation about the South and hip-hop music is set for Friday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. in Barnard Observatory’s Tupelo Room. The Center for the Study of Southern Culture hosts a conversation between Regina Bradley and Kiese Laymon, “When the South STILL Got Something to Say: A Conversation about Hip Hop in the South.” The event, which will be introduced by Brian Foster, is free and open to the public, with a reception afterward in the lobby.
Written by Edwin Smith, University Communications OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi anthropology and Southern Studies professor is among five people being honored this month by the Mississippi Humanities Council. Jodi Skipper will receive the Humanities Scholar Award on Feb. 10 during the council’s 2017 Public Humanities Awards program in Jackson. The agency recognizes …
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.
There has been a Jewish community in Natchez, Mississippi for 175 years—and Robin Amer’s family has been part of it for 160 of them. But now the number of Jews in Natchez has dwindled to only a handful. In this audio story, Robin returns to learn what culinary culture might disappear when they’re gone.
The Brown Bag Lunch and Lecture Series takes place on select days at noon in the Barnard Observatory lecture hall during the regular academic year. Please join us!
We’ve just published a new MISSISSIPPI STORY on our documentary media website, mississippistories.org. In 2015, Southern Studies graduate student Mary Blessey taught a digital photography class to children ages 9-12 enrolled in the summer program at Tutwiler Community Education Center in Tutwiler, Mississippi.
After being a constant in Barnard Observatory for thirty-five years, Sarah Dixon Pegues will retire from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. As the Center’s administrative assistant since 1980, she handles all financial matters, including budgets, payroll, travel requests, procurement, and purchasing, as well as processing grant applications and helping with reports for externally funded projects.
The Center’s David Wharton has a new book out called The Power of Belief: Spiritual Landscapes from the Rural South, with an introduction by Charles Reagan Wilson.
Dr. Wharton will sign his book on Thursday, December 8 at 5pm at Off Square Books on the Oxford Courthouse Square.