The Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew C. Harper as coordinator for its planning grant for the Deep South Humanities Center. The project is funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and is part of an effort to create a nationwide network of 10 regional humanities centers.

Harper is well qualified to coordinate the project. A Mississippian, he grew up in Hattiesburg, earned a B.A. in English at Millsaps College, an M.A. in history from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Ph.D. in environmental history from Northern Arizona University. His master’s thesis was titled “Mississippi and the Civilian Conservation Corp: A New Deal Success Story.” His dissertation explores the establishment of Glacier National Park.

Harper taught history at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi, before coming to the Center. His previous experience includes teaching English and social studies at Headwaters Academy in Bozeman, Montana, serving as a teaching assistant at Northern Arizona University, and working as a research assistant for the Mississippi Oral History Program.

In addition, he supervised an after school tutoring program for high school students assigned by the juvenile court in Flagstaff, Arizona, worked for the U.S. Forest Service surveying the historical data on Arizona’s Verde Valley, and was vice president for a large direct mail and list management company that also specialized in sales, service, and maintenance of computers and network environments. As a volunteer, he has helped winterize low-income homes and worked as a literacy tutor.

Harper’s current research is on the environmental history of Mississippi, focusing on the ways that Mississippians, both of the modern era as well as those native to the region, have interacted with and altered the physical world around them. His long-range plan is to explore examples of both natural and manufactured environments in the Deep South.

The regional humanities centers being planned through NEH grants are to be dedicated to collaborating with other cultural institutions in their regions, supporting research on regional topics, documenting regional history, preserving cultural resources, developing K-12 learning opportunities, building college-level degree programs in regional studies, and fostering cultural tourism. To accomplish these goals in the Deep South, the Center is planning a series of meetings that will bring together educators, librarians, and representatives of museums, historical societies, arts organizations, and other cultural institutions in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

The first meeting, tentatively scheduled to be held on September 12 in Helena, Arkansas, will focus on the Mississippi River Delta. Other cultures and meeting sites for the coming months include the Ozarks (Mountain View, Arkansas), Hill Country and Appalachia (Nashville, Tennessee), Black Belt/Pine Belt (Selma, Alabama), Swamp/Wetlands (Lafayette, Louisiana), and the Gulf South (Hattiesburg, Mississippi). Through such meetings Harper will help the Center survey humanities resources in the Deep South and begin assessing ways to strengthen these resources through exchange of information and collaboration.

Information about the proposed meetings and other project matters is available by telephone (662-915-5993), e-mail (cssc@olemiss.edu), and Internet (www.olemiss.edu/depts/south). Inquiries may also be addressed to Andrew C. Harper, Deep South Humanities Initiative, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, The University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848.