University of Mississippi

Mr. Jonathan Kaufman Presents Third Intertwining Legacies Lecture

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Mr. Jonathan Kaufman, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, author, and Managing Editor at Bloomberg News will be the next speaker for the Intertwining Legacies Lecture Series sponsored by the Critical Race Studies Group and generously funded by the Association for Jewish Studies–Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project grant.  Mr. Kaufman’s lecture title is “African Americans and Jews in the Age of Obama.”  The lecture is scheduled for Thursday evening, February 7th at 5:30 pm at Overby Auditorium (Room 147).  Please join us!

For more information about Mr. Kaufman and his upcoming lecture, please see the official University of Mississippi press release.

This is the third public lecture of the year-long series entitled “Intertwining Legacies: Jews and African Americans in the Deep South.”

For more information about the previous lectures in the series, please see the story in the College of Liberal Arts Newsletter, “View from Ventress” by clicking here.

For more information on the Association for Jewish Studies-Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, see http://www.ajsnet.org/legacy.htm

 

Photographs from Mr. Kaufman’s Visit

Dr. David Embrick presents “Pluralism, Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusion: What Does it all Mean in the Post Civil-Rights Era?”

Embrickpdf (2)Dr. David Embrick, Associate Professor of Sociology and Loyola University-Chicago will present his talk entitled “Pluralism, Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusion:   What Does it all Mean in the Post Civil-Rights Era?”  on Thursday, January 24th at 5:00 pm in the Tupelo Room of the Barnard Observatory.  For more information, see the synopsis of Dr. Embrick’s talk below.  We hope you can join us!
Synopsis:
Diversity” has become one of the most commonly used words by U.S. corporations.  Indeed, many companies claim that they have spent millions, sometimes billions of dollars to create an egalitarian workplace for all workers.  Given the amount of money spent and the increased amount of research that corporations have done on the issue of diversity, we should expect some progress in terms of equality or equal rights for minority and female workers.  However, while there has been a substantial increase in the rise of corporate philosophy espousing diversity, there is also overwhelming data that suggests minorities and women are still unable to obtain opportunities or to achieve success at the same rates as their white male counterparts.  How can we explain the apparent contradictions?  Furthermore, why are many companies that have historically barred minorities and women from their workplace now publicizing their support for racial and gender integration? I suggest that the term “diversity” is ostensibly used by corporations to mean increased access of minorities and women to non-menial positions in corporations, but actually used only to give the illusion of greater access while, in reality, protecting those in power.  The concept of diversity, then, does far greater damage than no attempt to equalize access at all, because it hides the fact that no change is occurring while falsely promising that change will occur in the future.  Using in-depth interviews conducted with 40 middle and senior-level managers and upper-level executive officers from Fortune 1000 companies, I find that many corporations use “diversity” as a shield to hide the fact that nothing has really changed in the structure of U.S corporations.  That is, U.S. corporations have been, and continue to be, exclusive clubhouses for upper class white males.  

 

Upcoming Lecture: What was Native American Literature? Regionalism, Tribalism, and Comparativism in the Age of Global Capitalism

Melanie Benson Taylor, Associate Professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College,  will present her talk entitled “What Was Native American Literature?  Regionalism, Tribalism, and Comparativism in the Age of Global Capitalism” on Wednesday, November 28th at 6:00 pm at the Train Depot.  For more information, you can download the flyer for the event by clicking here.

This lecture is hosted by the English Department and sponsored by the new Edith T. Baine Scholars and Writers Lecture Series.  It is presented in conjunction with the Native American Heritage Month and supported by the Native American and Indigenous Working Group.

 

 

2012 Day of Dialogue

Day of Dialogue focuses on topics of gender, race, ethnicity, generational identity, equality, as well as institutional history, accomplishments and goals.

 

Sex and Civility
Dr. Ross Haenfler

Ross Haenfler is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Mississippi.  His interests revolve around how people pursue social change in their daily lives. He is the author of Straight Edge: Clean Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change and Goths, Gamers, and Grrrls: Deviance and Youth Subcultures and is a coauthor of The Better World Handbook: Small Changes That Make a Big Difference (New Society), an action-oriented guide to creating a more just and sustainable world. He has led workshops on masculinities and feminism, transformative teaching, and social change in daily life. An award-winning teacher, Ross’ courses include social movements, deviance and youth subcultures, men and masculinities, and political sociology.

 

 
We’re All Outsiders: Intersectionality Theory and Vectors of Oppression and Privilege
Dr. Barbara Combs

Dr. Barbara Combs is jointly appointed as an Assistant Professor of Soiciology and Southern Studies. This is her second year at the University of Mississippi. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology with a concentration in Race and Urban Studies from Georgia State University in May 2010. Additionally, she holds a law degree from The Ohio State University and a Masters in English from Xavier University (Ohio). Dr. Combs says that teaching is her second career, and she loves it. She is working on a book manuscript about the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches and past and present day significance of the Voting Rights Act. Her research interests center on the significance of race, place, and space to modern day identity formation.

Sociology Graduate Student Wins Best Student Paper

Danielle Kerr, a Sociology graduate student, recently presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Alabama-Mississippi Sociological Association in Starkville, Mississippi.  Her paper, “A Closer Look at Population Change in the Gulf Coast and Delta Regions of Mississippi,”  was awarded Best Graduate Student Paper at the meetings.  Congratulations, Danielle!