the the newsletter of the Center for the study of southern Culture • fall 2012 the university of mississippi Southern Studies Welcomes New Graduate Students On August 17, 13 strangers met at the own unique lenses. These individual ing an MA in American studies at the 2012 Southern Studies graduate orien- perspectives draw from a variety of edu- University of Wyoming, John worked for tation in Barnard Observatory. In just cational and professional backgrounds, the Wyoming Humanities Council and six short weeks, the group has become and the group embodies the global the University of Wyoming Art Museum. acquainted through class discussions, reach of Southern culture. John’s thesis at UW explored the modern- dinners on the Oxford Square, and im- John Agricola was born in Gadsden, ization of the Tennessee Valley Authority promptu trips into rural Mississippi. Alabama. He began his cultural studies through murals of the Tennessee Valley, Though we come from different plac- journeyo at the University of Alabama, and he plans to expand his study of the es, we share a collective interest in the where he earned a BA in history and TVA at the University of Mississippi. South, which we explore through our American studies. While complet- Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Winston Booth completed a BA in historyo at the University of Texas at Austin. He then moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, and taught history just across the state line in Arkansas. Winston’s interest in regional politics led him to the University of Mississippi, where he will research politics and race in the South during the 1970s. Jodie Free joins the program from St. Albans, United Kingdom. She earnedo a degree in American studies and English literature at the University of East Anglia, in a program that included a year abroad at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jodie’s inter- est in the South stems from a deep ap- preciation of William Faulkner, and she confesses that she cannot stop writing about Faulkner or his work. In the fu- ture, Jodie hopes to earn a PhD and per- David Wharton fect the art of her second love, baking. The incoming class of Southern Studies graduate students are, left to right, front row: In 2004 Turry Flucker departed a Kate Hudson, Jodie Free, Erin Scott; second row: Leslie Hassel, Renee Ombaba, Anna 10-year position as chief curator of the Hamilton; third row: Tyler Proffitt, Paige Prather; back row: Rachael Walker, Turry o Flucker, Bob Xu, Winston Booth, John Agricola. continued on page 17 the D IRECTOR ’ S C OLUMN in the title of our institution, the Center for the Published Quarterly by Of the three keywords The Center for the Study of Southern Culture Study of Southern Culture, I find myself talking about the word “study” as much as The University of Mississippi Telephone: 662-915-5993 the terms “southern” and “culture.” The latter terms attract most of the attention, Fax: 662-915-5814 and faculty, staff, and students at the CSSC have tried over the years to define both E-mail: [email protected] www.southernstudies.olemiss.edu as broadly as possible. Events of the past month have dramatized the possibilities of www.facebook.com/SouthernStudies thinking just as broadly about what it means to study. IN THIS ISSUE The Opening the Closed Society program mixed academic analysis and documen- Fall 2012 tation with other events, and it mixed moments of study with considerations of pub- 1. Southern Studies Department lic memory about James Meredith, desegregation, massive resistance, and education. Welcomes New Graduate Students 2. Director’s Column People in education, religion, the law, the military, and the activist community talk- 3. Living Blues News ed from their own experiences, two commemorative walks (one through campus, 3. Seeking Applications for McMullan the other pushed indoors by rain) and the dedication of plaques and markers empha- Assistant Professor 4. Brown Bag Lunch and Lecture Series sized communal experience, and scholars offered detail and context. In one of the 4. Mark Your Calendars! latter events, Grace Hale encouraged listeners step back and think about the impor- 5. Native Ground: A Gammill Gallery Exhibition tance of documentary work as part of—and commentary about—civil rights work. 6. Center Events Commemorate 50 Southern Studies alum Caroline Herring gave a concert—the first of the Music of Years of Integration at the University the South series at the Ford Center’s Studio Theater—that included songs and dis- 7. Southern Studies on the Road 8. The 2013 Mississippi Delta Cultural cussion specific to the moment. Tour, March 17–20 Two days after the final events of the Opening the Closed Society initiative, the 9. The 2013 Oxford Conference for the Book to Be Held March 21–23 Southern Foodways Symposium offered an inspired combination of analysis, docu- 10. Rising Interest in Documentary Studies mentation, discussions of many sorts, food events, and spectacle. Again, it encour- Inspires New Opportunities and Projects 11. Newest Addition to The New aged creative connections between scholarship and things that were not scholar- Encyclopedia of Southern Culture ship. Documentary work and scholarly analysis shared the event with poetry, visual Focuses on Social Class Issues 12. Kitchen to Classroom: Eating Jim Crow and dramatic arts, and “love letters” to individual barbecue restaurants. 12. Major Gift from Atlanta Couple Documentary films were crucial to both the Opening the Closed Society events Helps Move UM toward Funding Foodways Professorship and the Southern Foodways Symposium. As superior documentaries, the films by 13. Southern Foodways Alliance to Media and Documentary Projects filmmakers Matthew Graves and Joe York were Study Women in 2013 full of new knowledge that comes when people got to tell their own stories, and they 14. Southern Studies Alums in Foodways 15. An Interview with Kate Medley, were also visually compelling and full of surprises. Multimedia Storyteller In the documentary films, in the Southern Foodways Symposium, and in the 16. SFA Barbecue Blog Roundup 18. Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference events of the Opening the Closed Society initiative, study was a crucial part of 19. Faulkner’s World: The Photographs things, but it was only part of the story. I’ll draw two conclusions. First, study should of Martin J. Dain—A Traveling Exhibition be open-ended. We don’t know where it will lead, and we need the energy that 20. UM Faulkner Scholar Receives comes from lots of people not just answering questions but also asking new questions Faculty Achievement Award and considering new ways to answer questions and tell stories. Sometimes people ask 20. Contributors 21. Reading the South what interests me most about the South, and sometimes they seem surprised when 26. Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters I say it is the excitement that comes from studying it. Second, study can bring to- 28. Back Cover gether ethics and aesthetics. While ethical questions involve doing scholarship right REGISTER STAFF and considering why it matters, the aesthetics of good scholarship can take schol- Editor: James G. Thomas Jr. ars almost anywhere. Our goal with ideas like the new MA documentary track, de- Graphic Designer: Susan Bauer Lee Mailing List Manager: Mary Hartwell Howorth scribed on page 10, should not be for all of our students to want to be filmmakers or Lithographer: RR Donnelley Magazine Group photographers or multimedia creators, although we want to help those who do. Our The University complies with all applicable laws regard- ing affirmative action and equal opportunity in all its ac- broader goal should be to continue the excitement that comes from rethinking what tivities and programs and does not discriminate against anyone protected by law because of age, color, disability, we study, how we study it, and the forms those studies might take. national origin, race, religion, sex, or status as a veteran or disabled veteran. Page 2 Fall 2012 The Southern Register Living Blues News The idea for this issue has been coming in vogue. So do yourself a favor—go on together for quite a while now. It started YouTube and check out the seven art- last year when Corey Harris turned me ists presented here to see what all the on to Jeff Scott, the Virginia acoustic excitement is about. Then search out bluesman and nephew of the great John their scarce recordings, which we hope Jackson. But what really made the idea won’t be scarce for long. take off was when photographer-writer The tintype images produced by Bill Bill Steber turned me on to the young Steber for this issue are printed in their bluesman Jeron “Blind Boy” Paxton. original form—as reversed images. The Paxton is an amazing young musi- optics of all ground-glass lenses render cian who can play most anything with a scene upside down and backwards. strings and play it exceedingly well. He Modern cameras correct for this by the is easily the most talented young acous- use of mirrors or digital electronics, but tic bluesman to come along in many, cameras in the 19th century, when the many years. He is the closest thing to wet-plate collodion process was in use, a living “prewar” bluesman I’ve heard could only render a scene as the lens since Alvin “Youngblood” Hart’s first projected it. Hence all nonnegative im- record came out in 1996. I was amazed ages from the 19th century are back- ital edition” in your subject line, and to learn that these two musicians had wards. In keeping with the integrity of we’ll get you set up at no extra charge! no record deal and virtually no record- the wet-plate collodion process, Living And last, we have redesigned our ings.