Letter from the Director
Welcome to the newly relaunched site for the Center for the Study of the American South!
As I complete my second academic year as director, I’m thrilled with the ways that the Center team has come together to support one another. It is at the intersections of our work where we are at strongest; active in the process of preserving our rich histories, capturing cutting-edge cultural, artistic and scholarly understandings of our past, present, and future, and teaching and learning from our incredible students. I am honored to lead a Center that has such a rich legacy and every day it is a joy to lead such a talented group of students, staff, and faculty earnestly engaged in exploring our past, interrogating our present, and envisioning our future.
Located on Franklin Street in the heart of Chapel Hill, the historic Love House has served as a welcoming hub for students, faculty, staff, and community for over thirty years.
And in this moment, we stand prepared to continue to serve. The work of the Center remains grounded in the belief that rigorous scholarship and meaningful community engagement should go hand in hand. Through research initiatives, public programming, creative projects, and partnerships with scholars, artists, filmmakers, and community members, we aim to amplify stories that have been overlooked and create a fuller and more nuanced understanding of Southern history and culture. Our projects prioritize storytelling, oral history, art and interdisciplinary collaboration, recognizing that the narratives of everyday people are vital to the project of expanding the archive that will be available to future generations. From public exhibits and lectures to fieldwork and digital storytelling, we are committed to creating pathways for people to connect with the South’s past, present, and future.
We Welcome You
As we look to our future, we remain committed to scholarship, creativity, and community engagement.
We welcome you—our students, scholars, artists, alumni, campus and community partners—to join us in an exploration of our dynamic South. I believe that together we can build a more comprehensive and compassionate understanding of this place we call home.
Thank you for your interest in the Center for the Study of the American South. We look forward to collaborating, learning, and growing with you.
