2019 in Review
If you know us, you know we’re always striving to nurture rigorous scholarship, critical conversations, and creative expressions for a diverse and changing South. These past few months have been as fruitful as ever.
In addition to the highlights below, Southern Cultures hosted Poetry and Reading on the Porch, SOHP led oral history workshops, and the Love House been a home to New Orleans Second Line Photographs and graduate study working groups. Plus, two members of our own staff released books: Emily Wallace’s Road Sides and Rachel Seidman’s Speaking of Feminism! We’re excited to continue this work and hope to engage you in it.
Here are a few of the happenings we’re most proud of this year (so far):
Philanthropy and the Academy
Along with allies at Duke, we reimagined the Keohane Professorship as an innovative, multi-event Southern Summit on Philanthropy and the Academy. Over four weeks, we convened stakeholders to think through the principle concerns of philanthropic foundations, higher education institutions, and southern communities and answer the question of how we might work better together.
Watch our recap and learn more about all the programming >>
Politicking with Southern Cultures
Southern Cultures celebrated the release of the fall “Left/Right” Special Issue with guests Kevin Kruse (historian, #Twitterstorian and author of Fault Lines), Jamelle Bouie (New York Times columnist and CBS News political correspondent) and Nicole Hemmer (research scholar and author of Messengers of the Right).
Black Out Loud
Curators, graduate students Cortland Gilliam and Jerry J. Wilson took over the Love House for an artistic exploration of Blackness at UNC. This evening of art and conversation invited UNC students, staff, faculty, and the greater community to bring their whole selves to the table in order to forge new futures at the university and in the American South.
Learn more about the project and the artists who shared their work >>
Southern Waters and Environmental Justice
What are the greatest threats to clean water in our state and region? And how can we take tangible steps to address them? These were just a few of the questions about environmental justice and clean water we posed to experts including Jackie MacDonald Gibson, Detlef Knappe, Naeema Muhammad, Lisa Sorg and moderator (UNC undergrad) Megan Raisle.
Walking with SOHP
This fall, the Southern Oral History Program presented a UNC Women’s History Tour. These stories, captured in oral history archives, made campus come alive with successes and struggles of real women connected to Carolina. Hate you missed it? The tour is happening again in Spring 2020!
Keep tuned to SOHP for all the ways you can participate in their work >>
Blues on the Porch
We were thrilled to host Music Maker Relief Foundation’s Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen for our Music on the Porch series. This special evening was also heralded by a visit with students from Raleigh Charter High School. Before the music, students got to speak with Cohen and Bill Ferris about their work, the music and the heart of the blues.
Read Music Maker’s Artist Spotlight on “Mother Blues”>>
Critical Ethnic Studies
Convener Dr. Sharon Holland launched the Critical Ethnic Studies Collective at the Center this Fall. This new initiative focuses on intersectional thought and social justice in diverse communities. We’re excited to continue to be a home for future guest speakers and events, dissertation working groups and more.
Learn more about this collective and how to connect >>
Remembering James Cates
We hosted a conversation remembering the life and death of James Cates, a 22-year-old Chapel Hill man, was stabbed during a racial brawl at a campus dance in 1970. Many thanks to featured guests Mike Ogle and Minister Robert Campbell as well as the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition and members of Cates’ family for helping us bring his story to light.
Read the Daily Tarheel event recap >>
We’ll be back in the new year with more news, events and gatherings designed to engage and inspire. Before we sign off, we just wanted to say thank you. We couldn’t do this work without your vital support.