Photos from Graduation

With apologies for the delay, here are some photos of the graduating Southern Studies class of 2016, including BA and MA students. Awards and class photo by Jimmy Thomas, photos in gowns by me.

A New Encyclopedia Tribute to Muhammad Ali

A New Encyclopedia Tribute to Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali died this past Friday, on June 3. The following biographical essay by Jimmy Thomas on the boxing great and civil rights leader was included in the Gender volume of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Muhammad Ali (b. 1942) Boxer. “Float like a butterfly, sting like

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

Student Awards for Papers, Documentary Projects Announced at Graduation

Student Awards for Papers, Documentary Projects Announced at Graduation Gray Prize for one of the two best papers by SST undergraduates: Joel Hayes-Davis for “Local Southern Identity as Defined through Foodways” Coterie Award for one of the two best papers by SST undergraduates: Anna McCollum, “What is Today’s South?” Peter Aschoff Award for the best

John T. Edge on Why He Contributed to the Charles Wilson Fund

John T. Edge on Why He Contributed to the Charles Wilson Fund Our goal for the Charles Reagan Wilson Graduate Student Support Fund is within reach. To date, 151 donors have contributed $22,719. I am one of those donors. I gave last week because I value the many contributions Charles has made to the study

Spring 2016 Thesis Season at an End

Congratulations to all of our Thesis and Internship Defenders! Our last defense of the season was yesterday. Below, a collection of our Instagram posts of each successful defender. [View the story “Spring 2016 Southern Studies Thesis Defenses” on Storify]

New STUDY THE SOUTH Essay by Aram Goudsouzian

In 1973 the Memphis State Tigers reached the finals of the NCAA basketball tournament. Though they lost to UCLA, they inspired a civic myth. With each victory, the city’s enthusiasm ballooned, with paeans to stars Larry Finch, Ronnie Robinson, and Larry Kenon, as well as coach Gene Bartow. Politicians upheld the team as a vehicle of interracial unity, supposedly healing the scars from Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968. This myth has elements of truth, as basketball provided common ground across lines of race and class. Yet it hides as much as it reveals. Success in basketball smoothed over Memphians’ anxieties about the university, the city, and the future of race relations. The story of this season thus illuminates how sports can not only foster racial progress, but also obscure racial divisions.

Music of the South Symposium to Explore Defining and Presenting Traditional Music

Music of the South Symposium:Defining and Presenting Tradition in Southern Music – Wednesday, April 6, 2016 This spring’s Music of the South Symposium will investigate the creation and performance of the South’s various traditional music forms. The one-day symposium, “Defining and Presenting Traditional Music,” sponsored by the Center, Living Blues magazine, and the Blues Archive,