Center for the Study of Southern Culture

12/12/2025

03/12/2025

Congratulations to our December thesis defender Wayne Dowdy, shown here with committee members Ryan Parsons, Rebecca Marchiel, and Matt O’Neal (chair). Wayne’s thesis is “Southern / Appalachian Migrants and Urban Development Politics in Uptown Chicago, 1950-1972.” 🎉🎊🥳

02/12/2025

Meet the Storytellers from S ST 560 at our Fall Documentary Showcase this Friday, Dec. 5, at 6pm in Barnard Observatory! This catered event is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

02/12/2025

On Giving Tuesday, we kick off a season of giving by contributing to our favorite charitable causes around the world. You can help the University of Mississippi fully fund a most important cultural resource: the Oxford Conference for the Book.

For more than 30 years, the Oxford Conference for the Book has attracted literary luminaries to Ole Miss.

Thanks to many years of support from Mississippi’s arts and humanities grants, the Oxford Conference for the Book has been able to thrive. Due to recent shifts in priorities in federal funding to state agencies, we’re reaching out to ask that you give to make the 2026 Oxford Conference for the Book as successful and as impactful as it has been for decades.

In return for your sustaining support, check out this Giving Tuesday gift: a pair of exclusive “The Sip” socks. To claim your limited-edition pair, here’s what to do:
Make a gift of at least $18.48 right now (supplies are limited).
If you want more than one pair (and who wouldn’t?), make another gift of at least $18.48 to any Ignite Ole Miss project (limit four pairs per household).
Post online and share with friends and family to spread the word about this meaningful initiative.
Make a difference on Giving Tuesday and invest in Oxford and Ole Miss!
https://bit.ly/4nTJHU3

19/11/2025

Earlier this week, Southern Studies B.A., M.A., and M.F.A. advisors Xavier Sivels, Simone Delerme, and Melanie Ho attended a recruitment event at the COFO Civil Rights Education Center at Jackson State University where they spread the word about our interdisciplinary program. Are you interested in learning more about earning a graduate degree in Southern Studies? We have two virtual open houses coming up Tuesday, Dec. 2 and Thursday, Jan. 15. Visit our website for more details.

13/11/2025

Are you interested in a graduate degree in Southern Studies? Would you like to ask some questions about the program? We are hosting two virtual open houses to give prospective students an opportunity to find out about our M.A. in Southern Studies and M.F.A. in Documentary Expression. See our website for more details, including the Zoom link.

11/11/2025

Join us at noon Wednesday, Nov. 12 for the discussion between John T. Edge and Jim Gulley about “Greenfield Farm: From Faulkner’s Mule Farm to Mississippi’s Writers Residency.” This SouthTalk will be an overview of the history of Greenfield Farm from the time of the Choctaws until Faulkner purchased the property in 1938. Gulley and Edge will explain why Faulkner bought the farm, what happened there during his ownership, and how Greenfield influenced his writing. It will conclude with what happened to the property after Faulkner’s death in 1962 and how the University of Mississippi came to own a portion of it. In 2022, Edge appointed Gulley as the research fellow for the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency project. Free and open to the public in Barnard Observatory Room 105.

10/11/2025

“We have had a lifelong commitment to the fundamentals of Southern Studies in areas of food and music," said Scott Caradine.
A recent gift made by Scott and Lisa Caradine, owners of Proud Larry's in Oxford, Mississippi, is the lead gift for The Center at 50 Fund designed to enhance the CSSC’s 50th anniversary in 2027 and explore the center’s role in regional culture. It supports several projects at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the Southern Foodways Alliance. Read more at https://bit.ly/4nRK158.

04/11/2025

A perfect fall day for class outside!! Prof. Shiraz Ahmed guides his fieldwork students as they build on their interviewing skills.

Want to share stories about the South? MFA & MA priority funding deadline is February 1, 2026. Apply today https://apply.olemiss.edu/graduate/.

04/11/2025

Check out the fall issue of the Southern Register at https://olemiss.edu/southernstudies/about/publications/

27/10/2025

Coming up at noon Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Barnard Observatory, Byron D’Andra Orey presents "The Book Mississippi Tried to Ban: 50 Years Later." Originally published in 1974, “Mississippi, Conflict and Change” was a textbook that explored Mississippi’s history from its earliest days to modern times, emphasizing social dynamics and key contemporary events, especially the civil rights movement and the pursuit of equality. The book was innovative for its era, offering a nuanced and truthful depiction of Mississippi’s past, particularly regarding slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the civil rights era. “Mississippi, Conflict and Change” has been out of print for many years and was only available as a collector’s item. This new edition includes an introduction telling the history of the book’s publication, along with updates throughout the text, made by acclaimed author James W. Loewen. Picking up the reins after Loewen died in 2021, Orey provides new text on contemporary politics, culture, and the economy, bringing the history of the state up to date.

20/10/2025

A busy week of SouthTalks! At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21 in Barnard Observatory, visual artist and musician and 2025 Sarahfest artist-in-residence Jon Langford and master printer Jim Sherraden will be in conversation about their individual artwork and collaborations together. Sherraden led Nashville’s famous Hatch Show Print letterpress shop for three decades before retiring in 2018. It will be a night of art, music, food, and conversation with two artists whose first collaborative moment sprang from Langford’s time as the Country Music Hall of Fame’s first visiting artist. This event celebrates the tenth anniversary of SarahFest, in partnership with the Sarah Isom Center.
Becky Marchiel presents “The Park That Was a Prison: Reading the Landscape in Late Twentieth-Century Memphis” at noon Wednesday, Oct. 22 in Barnard Observatory. From the late 1960s to the 1980s, Shelby Farms in Memphis, Tennessee, transformed from one of the region’s largest penal farms into a major urban park, revealing deep tensions over land use, memory, and community priorities in the process. Marchiel is an associate professor of history at the University of Mississippi who researches urban history and political economy in the United States.
Then on Friday, Oct. 24 at noon, Dr. Martin Padgett speaks with Dr. Eric Solomon about his most recent book, "The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick." Padgett blends biography and history and assembles the complete kaleidoscope of Hardwick’s life, connecting the lessons of Hardwick's moment with our own.