A project documenting the stories and culture of skateboarders in Mississippi created by students at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture enrolled in the Southern Studies 533: Fieldwork and Oral History course in Fall 2022 (taught by John Rash and Melanie Ho). This video was originally screened at Oxford Skate Park, November 2, …
The Center for the Study of Southern Culture and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council have teamed up for Mississippi Creates, an event that pairs musical performance with short documentary films providing a glimpse into the creative life and environments of two local musicians; Tyler Keith and Schaefer Llana. This pair of films are part of a larger …
Kelly Spivey presented her Southern Studies M.F.A. in Documentary Expression thesis project “The Bake Sale” at Oxford Community Farmers Market on July 6, 2021. “The Bake Sale” is an audio documentary about the rise in bake sales as a response to recent civil rights violations and police brutality across the United States. To listen to …
Southern drag queen photos by Christina Huff
Celebrating our latest Southern Studies thesis defender Written By Rebecca Lauck Cleary As an international graduate student, Elliot Grime wanted to learn about the culture of the South and better understand the region. For the past two years, he has taken documentary courses enabling him to get first-hand experience interacting with people, places, and the …
Her research and writing focuses on baking, gender, labor, and race Written by Rebecca Lauck Cleary Kelly Spivey learned about adaptability and instinct from cooking in restaurants, and decided to exchange her rolling pin for stack of textbooks. She turned those skills into a backdrop for her academic studies as a graduate student in the …
Written By Rebecca Lauck Cleary As a musician, Tyler Keith’s love of music was bound to be a part of his graduate studies. During his time in the Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Expression program, he looked at the intersection of gospel and blues in the North Mississippi Hill Country and how locality is …
Written by Rebecca Lauck Cleary You might not immediately think of potatoes when you think of Florida, but it turns out the crop has deep roots there. On June 4, Carlynn Crosby successfully defended her thesis “Potato Capital: Agriculture, Labor, and the (Un)Making of Hastings,” which shed light on the labor practices of Florida potato …
Written By Rebecca Lauck Cleary How can someone you’ve never met be an inspiration? Just ask Zaire Love, who defended her thesis April 29 for her M.F.A. in Documentary Expression degree. For her, the death of a musician in California influenced her work on a personal level in Mississippi Rapper, entrepreneur, and activist Nipsey Hussle …
Written By Rebecca Lauck Cleary After graduating with his M.A. in Southern Studies in 2019, Hooper Schultz decided to remain at the University of Mississippi for another year and earn his M.F.A. in Documentary Expression. On April 28, he defended his thesis and fulfilled that goal. Schultz is a historian whose work has focused mainly …