A new, free, six-week online course that explores the stories, music and art of the American South will be offered Oct. 13 to Nov. 28, developed and taught by the Center’s Senior Associate Director, William R. Ferris, in conjunction with the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.
About the Course:
This course explores the stories, music, and art of the American South and considers how they serve as a window on the region’s history and culture. We will see how the region’s distinctive sense of place defines music and literature in each generation. From small farms to urban neighborhoods, from the region itself to more distant worlds of the southern diaspora, stories, music, and art chronicle places and the people who live within them.
Our course explores the nature of oral tradition and how its study can provide a methodology for understanding Southern literature. We will discuss Southern artists and photographers and will show how the history and traditions of the South influences their work. We will consider the work of Southern Writers and discuss how they utilize specific stories, music, and art as a structure for literary forms such as the novel and the short story. Lastly, we look into the rich history of southern music and its roots in work chants, fife and drum, and one-strand on the wall musics.
Sign Up:
For more information, and to register for free, visit: www.coursera.org/course/south.