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Since
Tulane received notification of the award in mid December, the
university has launched an exhaustive planning process aimed at
developing innovative programming that takes into account the
diversity of circumstances and experiences of the people of the
region. The first step in the process involved the development of a
regional alliance strategy. To that end a region-wide Advisory
Board composed of directors of state humanities councils and
representatives of humanities institutions from each of the five
states in the region was created. The Advisory Board held its first
meeting on 18 February 2000 and will hold two additional meetings
during the planning year. The Board’s principal functions include:
-
development
of strategies for planning and collaboration for the Center
-
promotion
of the work of the center within their own geographic networks
-
construction
of a comprehensive strategy for developing cultural initiatives,
programs and services for the region
-
formation
of a regional fundraising task force
-
Members
of the Tulane faculty serve as chairs of four working committees
charged with responsibility for developing initiatives in the four
broad areas mandated by the NEH:
Members
of the Tulane faculty serve as chairs of four working committees
charged with responsibility for developing initiatives in the four
broad areas mandated by the NEH:
As
part of it’s cost share commitment to the NEH program, Tulane
University is contributing salaries for the staff
of the Regional Humanities Center. This includes partial support for
the Co-Directors [Frey & Powell] and Committee Chairs, [Mark,
Klingler, Hill], and full support of the Assistant Director [Molly
Sullivan], graduate assistants [Cathe Mizell-Nelson (English), Mark
Souther (History), & Michael Mizell-Nelson (History)], and an
undergraduate student worker. The Planning Grant from the NEH is
providing funds for consultants who are working on the RHC project
during the planning year on an as-needed basis.
During
the first phase of the planning process the Planning Group has focused
on:
-
Consortial
Planning
Members of the Tulane Planning
Group have met at various times with representatives of the Piney
Woods Folklife Program [Mississippi], the Mississippi Oral History
Project [University of Southern Mississippi, Hattisburg], the
Louisiana Folklife Program, Louisiana Division of the Arts, the T.
Harry Williams Center for Oral History. In April, the Group
traveled to Jackson, Mississippi to a meeting arranged by Barbara
Carpenter, Director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, with
representatives of universities and four year colleges, community
colleges, libraries, and museums. Similar trips are taking
place in May in Birmingham and in June in Memphis.
On June 1-4 members of the Group will attend the Natchez Literary
Celebration. The purpose of these meetings is to determine state
and regional needs and priorities, explore possible collaborations
and develop a framework for institutional partnerships that cut
across state lines, to identify successful programs that might be
adapted by other institutions throughout the region, and to
develop curricular resources for Comparative Southern Studies.
-
Comparative
Southern Studies M.A.
One of the mandates of the NEH is to develop a graduate program in
regional studies. Our survey of the region revealed five such
programs already exist. Rather than duplicate those programs, all
of which take a traditional approach to Southern Studies, we set
out to create a Southern Studies degree program that would build
upon the unique strength of our faculty and existing programs,
that would be interdisciplinary and would allow for cross-regional
and international comparisons.
Planning
is still very much in the preliminary stages but as we presently
envisage it, the Southern Studies degree would consist of a core
course, a concentration in traditional Southern Studies offerings, and
a second concentration in comparative offerings drawn from across the
academic map.
The
Planning Group welcomes your comments and suggestions on the content
of a core course for the Comparative Southern Studies program, as well
as your ideas on what comparative courses you would like to see
offered. Our survey of current course offerings in traditional
Southern Studies, of courses capable of adaptation, along with a list
of possible courses created out of the fertile imaginations of our
team of graduate students, is available here. |
