Jessica Wilkerson, assistant professor of history and Southern Studies, trades Oxford, Mississippi, for Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the 2016–17 academic year as part of the Visiting Scholars Program at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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 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 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 …
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]
The Center and History Department Launch An Ignite Campaign for the Charles Reagan Wilson Fund In honor of Dr. Wilson’s retirement in May 2014 and long career supporting and guiding students, we created the Charles Reagan Wilson Graduate Student Support Fund, which will provide financial support for graduate students engaged in research in southern history. …
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: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, …
A new display at Rowan Oak features William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech. Southern Studies graduate students Amanda Malloy and Katie Gill designed and installed the display. English graduate student Sarah Altenoff provided technical assistance on the project.
By being able to succinctly develop her communication and presentation skills, Amanda Malloy, a second-year Southern Studies MA student, won the University of Mississippi’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. She will go on to the regional competition in Charlotte, North Carolina, in February as part of the Conference for Southern Graduate Schools.