Activities

Dr. Harriell speaks at the Oxford Conference for the Book.

African American Studies sponsors/co-sponsors research seminars, speakers, films, art exhibits, and conferences. Its international symposium on Richard Wright won international acclaim. In past years during Black History Month, African American Studies hosted a major conference on The Experiences of Black Mississippians and helped to organize the MS-Network for Black History and Heritage. The Program assisted Jackson Public Schools in developing a staff training program in multicultural education. It was also involved in producing two films—one on the Amistad slave ship mutiny and one on the migration of African American Mississippians. In addition, African American Studies has sponsored special projects Documenting the African American Presence at UM.

Faculty have ongoing research projects on the Harlem Renaissance, Perceptions of African Americans in the media, African American voting patterns, Critical Race Studies and African American Popular Culture, the New Black South and the rise of Southern Hip Hop, African American players in the American Football League, slave revolts, African American novels, and race relations.