Decisions, decisions

Based on your responses to that question that I asked on the first day of class--“What do you hope to learn about the South?”--I have put together some broad topics that will serve as starting points for your research projects.

Look these over, and select the three areas which you find most intriguing. Write your choices down in order of preference and hand these in to me in class on Fri. 2/17. Also, please look at the presentation dates listed on the syllabus. While I cannot accommodate requests for specific presentation dates, I do need to know if you have a conflict on any particular day of those three days. (Please note that these are the only three days allotted for presentations, and so you must make your presentation on one of these days.)

Once I have your choices, I will assign you a partner who indicated similar interests. You will then begin working together to come up with a more focused, specific topic for your papers and presentation.

1) Investigate the question of whether there are still deep cultural and/or political divisions between the North and South.

2) Analyze media images of the South, focusing on a particular film, TV show, or book. Consider the messages the work conveys about the South and assess the work’s cultural impact.

3) Analyze regional stereotypes of the South in an effort to determine what is fact and what is fiction.

4) Look at southern “foodways,” the interrelationships of food, methods of food preparation and consumption, and regional culture.

5) Research a Southern author we haven’t read; look at the influence of place on that author’s work and analyze how the themes discussed in our course relate to at least one of this author’s works.

6) Research a Southern visual artist and analyze the strategies of representation he/she employs and the connection of the work to place.

7) Research a form of Southern music, explaining its history and cultural significance.

8) Look at interracial relationships in the South, focusing on one minority group
other than African Americans (e.g. Asian, Latino, or Native American).