Academic Programs in African American Studies

The African American Studies Program hosts open mic nights to provide students a platform for expression and connection. A collaboration with the Sarah Isom Center for Women & Gender Studies and the Luckyday Residential College in celebration of National Poetry Month and Black History Month, students, faculty, staff and the community share both original and published poetry—giving everyone the opportunity to take the mic. 

Presented by the African American Studies and the Prison-to-College Pipeline programs, the Dr. Jeanette Jennings Lecture Series is funded by an anonymous gift. It honors Dr. Jennings (inset photo) who became the university’s first Black faculty member in 1970 and was co-advisor of UM's Black Studies Program from 1970 to 1978. Susan Burton, a visionary and inspirational leader of the criminal justice reform movement (large photo), presented the inaugural lecture. 

Students in the African American Studies Program have opportunities to broaden their horizons via travel and study both inside and outside the U.S. Scholarships in the College of Liberal Arts can help. Courses have included a Washington, D.C. study of Politics of Inequality with political scientist Dr. Marvin King; a Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland exploration of War & Memory on Civil War Battlefields with historian Dr. Robert Colby; and a Mississippi Delta visit for Anthropology of the Blues at the BB King Museum, Delta Blues Museum, and GRAMMY Museum Mississippi with anthropology instructor Scott Barretta, a longtime host of Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Highway 61 blues radio show. 

According to surveys of employers, internships are the #1 desired experience on college resumes. Employers want to know that you have experienced the professional world and have solidified your career goals through interactions in a related workplace. One recent African American Studies student worked with the university Office of Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement while another interned with a United States District Attorney’s office. The internship examples are as varied as our students’ career interests.

The Prison-to-College Pipeline Program, a university-community engagement initiative, promotes higher education in prison in response to high rates of incarceration and the ongoing need for increased access to educational opportunities in the state of Mississippi.

A community engagement effort to improve quality of life, M Partner offers a framework for community and university representatives to advance priority projects in partner cities across the state. M Partner offers credit-bearing courses, community service opportunities, research, internships, and technical assistance to advance community priorities. It is a signature initiative of the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement and its work to empower campus and community partners to fight poverty through education, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

University of Mississippi faculty, staff, and students are working across disciplines to learn more about the history of slavery and enslaved people in Oxford and on campus.

The Center for Civil War Research is designed to promote a more thorough understanding of the American Civil War, its history and its scholarship, among the various constituencies of the University of Mississippi and the broader community. Programing includes a biannual Conference on the Civil War, the Wiley-Silver Prize for Best First Book in Civil War History, the annual Burnham Lecture in Civil War History, and research funding for graduate students.

The University of Mississippi Blues Archive acquires and preserves blues and blues-related materials in a variety of formats for scholars and blues fans alike. With thousands of sound recordings, photographs, videos, books, periodicals, newsletters, research collections, memorabilia, and more the archive houses one of the largest blues collections in the world. Highlights include B. B. King’s personal record collection, the Jim O’Neal and Amy van Singel / Living Blues Collection, the Trumpet Records Collection, the Sheldon Harris Collection, the John Richbourg Collection, and the Percy Mayfield collection.