How do southerners feel about the ways in which the rest of the country regards them? In this volume, twelve observers of the modern South discuss its persistent image as a people and place at odds with mainstream American ideals and values. Ranging from the South's climate to its religious fundamentalism to its great outpouring of fiction and autobiography, the contributors show how and why our perceptions of the region have been continually refashioned by national/southern tensions, trends, and events. At the same time, they show that although the nation has sought, time and again, to change the region, America also has used the South to expose and modify some of its own darker impulses. As editors Larry J. Griffin and Don H. Doyle point out, no single approach could clarify the complexities underlying this persistent notion of a ""Problem South."" Representing a diversity of backgrounds and interests, the writings in this volume are the products of strong and independent minds that cut across disciplines, disagree among themselves, blend contemporary and historical insights, and confront conventional wisdom and expedient generalities. Filled with fresh insights into the dynamics of the region's long-troubled relationship with the rest of the nation, this volume allows us all to view the current state and future course of the South, as well as its link to the broader culture and polity, in a new light.

Including the work of nearly 20 authors from institutions such as American University, Memphis University, University of North Carolina, and Georgia State University, this essay collection explores the changing relationship between African Americans and whites on U.S. College and University campuses. These essays investigate and chronicle the tension and social distance felt between African Americans and whites in today's higher-education community. Many facets of the educational experience are examined including student-to-student contact, affinity group formation, Greek life, and the perceived effectiveness of courses on race taught by non-minorities. Although designed as supplemental reading for undergraduate and graduate students, and experts in the field, each chapter in African Americans and Whites includes three or four provocative questions suitable for classroom discussions.

During the two decades prior to publication of this book, sociologists had developed a range of new research methods that could be of much use to social historians. This 1999 collection of essays introduces some of the most interesting of these methods: event structure analysis, words-to-numbers, network analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, fuzzy logic, and recursive regression. All essays are written by outstanding experts, address non-initiated readers and use as little jargon as possible. Methods are explained through the use of historical case studies; annotated topical bibliographies have been added.

What does "redneck" mean? What's going to happen to the southern accent? What makes black southerners laugh? What is "real" country music? These are the kinds of questions that pop up in this collection of notable essays from "Southern Cultures," the journal of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Intentionally plural, "Southern Cultures" was founded in 1993 to present all sides of the American South, from sorority sisters to Pocahontas, from kudzu to the blues.

This volume collects 27 essays from the journal's first fifteen years, bringing together some of the most memorable and engaging essays as well as some of those most requested for use in courses. A stellar cast of contributors discusses themes of identity, pride, traditions, changes, conflicts, and stereotypes. Topics range from black migrants in Chicago to Mexican immigrants in North Carolina, from Tennessee wrestlers to Martin Luther King, from the Civil War to contemporary debates about the Confederate flag. Funny and serious, historical and contemporary, the collection offers something new for every South-watcher, with fresh perspectives on enduring debates about the people and cultures of America's most complex region.

Contributors:
Derek H. Alderman, East Carolina University
Donna G'Segner Alderman, Greenville, North Carolina
S. Jonathan Bass, Samford University
Dwight B. Billings, University of Kentucky
Catherine W. Bishir, Preservation North Carolina
Kathleen M. Blee, University of Pittsburgh
Elizabeth Boyd, Vanderbilt University
James C. Cobb, University of Georgia
Peter A. Coclanis, University of North Carolina atChapel Hill
Joseph Crespino, Emory University
Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University
franklin forts, University of Georgia
David Goldfield, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Larry J. Griffin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Adam Gussow, University of Mississippi
Trudier Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Patrick Huber, University of Missouri-Rolla
Louis M. Kyriakoudes, University of Southern Mississippi
Melton McLaurin, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Michael Montgomery, University of South Carolina
Steve Oney, Los Angeles, California

How do southerners feel about the ways in which the rest of the country regards them? In this volume, twelve observers of the modern South discuss its persistent image as a people and place at odds with mainstream American ideals and values. Ranging from the South's climate to its religious fundamentalism to its great outpouring of fiction and autobiography, the contributors show how and why our perceptions of the region have been continually refashioned by national/southern tensions, trends, and events. At the same time, they show that although the nation has sought, time and again, to change the region, America also has used the South to expose and modify some of its own darker impulses. As editors Larry J. Griffin and Don H. Doyle point out, no single approach could clarify the complexities underlying this persistent notion of a "Problem South." Representing a diversity of backgrounds and interests, the writings in this volume are the products of strong and independent minds that cut across disciplines, disagree among themselves, blend contemporary and historical insights, and confront conventional wisdom and expedient generalities. Filled with fresh insights into the dynamics of the region's long-troubled relationship with the rest of the nation, this volume allows us all to view the current state and future course of the South, as well as its link to the broader culture and polity, in a new light.