“Making the Appalachian South in Black and White” by Matt O’Neal What is “Appalachia”? Where is it? Who lives there? This talk will outline the creation of the Appalachian region in late-nineteenth century America and explain how it came prepackaged with assumptions about its racial and ethnic makeup. If we look beyond the myths surrounding …
“Rootswell & SOIL: Reimagining Community through Food, Art, and Stories of the Mississippi Delta” Tyler Yarbrough and Justin Hardiman Rootswell is a growing movement in the Mississippi Delta, uniting farmers, chefs, corner stores, farmers’ markets, and creatives to transform the region’s food landscape. In this SouthTalk, we will hear from the organizers revitalizing a Clarksdale …
“Art in Barnard” by Robin Whitfield Robin Whitfield is a Mississippi artist dedicated to connecting with nature and helping others do the same. Her creative process begins with observing natural environments such as rivers, swamps, and forests. Her paintings are poetic explorations of visual and ecological relationships. Whitfield works on paper using traditional watercolors or foraged plant and …
“Snapshot: Climate, Exhibition and Conversation” Vanessa Charlot, Kariann Fuqua, and Brooke White In the fall of 2023, Southern Cultures published Snapshot: Climate. This issue featured more than sixty photographs and accompanying short reflections from artists, activists, photojournalists, and scientists to provide a “snapshot” of climate impacts across the South. The feature became a traveling exhibit …
NEW LOCATION! OVERBY CENTER AUDITORIUM! “The South’s Environmental Legacy: From Personal Accountability to Collective Power” by Heather McTeer Toney In this SouthTalk, Heather McTeer Toney will discuss how the South’s environmental history—ranging from agriculture to extractive industries—has shaped individual and collective behaviors. She will focus on reframing the conversation from personal recycling habits to holding …
NEW LOCATION! OVERBY CENTER AUDITORIUM “Computers, Welfare, and Southern Politics: The Technological Environments of Government in Mississippi” by Marc Aidinoff In this SouthTalk, Marc Aidinoff will explore what the government looks like when it becomes computerized and how the expectations of citizenship have changed as a result. Moving from 1970 to the present, Aidinoff will …
This event is postponed. VISITING DOCUMENTARIAN SERIES Screening of King Coal + Q&A with Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon Elaine McMillion Sheldon is one of the Center’s visiting documentarians this spring. She will screen her film King Coal. A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, King Coal meditates on the complex history and future …
This SouthTalk will bring together two of the Center’s favorite things: film and discussion. We invite former SouthDocs producer and current assistant professor of broadcast and digital journalism at Mississippi State University, Rex Jones, to screen his documentary Jesus Was a Democrat. The film follows funeral-home owner and Mississippi legislator Steve Holland as he approaches …
Quilter and textile artist Coulter Fussell will present a slideshow surveying the development of artworks she sews at her Water Valley, Mississippi studio. Her public-facing art studio is supplied entirely by community clothing and textile donations. She will focus on her latest developing series, combining crowd-sourced textiles and photography. Fussell’s works compare historical and current …
Are you interested in a graduate degree in Southern Studies? Would you like to ask some questions about the program? Here is the link for the Jan. 24 open house at 1 p.m.: https://olemiss.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqdemvqzItHNRTa_x2Xblsgpt4x0vLl796