Mississippi Delta

Mississippi Blues: Music and Social Movements

Dates: On Campus: May 15-19; on the road May 22-26, 2023*

Credit Hours: 3

Instructor: Dr. Marquita Smith, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Journalism; and Vanessa Charlot, Assistant Professor of Creative Multimedia

Cost: $750 plus tuition

Application Deadline: April 6, 2023

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Learn to read and understand both the nature and function of social movements
Develop Social Movement Literacy to recognize, discuss, participate in, and critique social movements
Intelligently critique the ideologies, politics, motivations, and tactics within social movements
Travel the Mississippi Blues Trail to apply lessons learned to the history of the Blues and Civil Rights
Visit such sites as the BB King Museum, Delta Blues Museum, and The GRAMMY Museum Mississippi
Produce a media product that highlights the Mississippi Blues trail and the voice that it gave to social movements, including Civil Rights efforts

*Itinerary and class dates are subject to change. Please verify specific dates with instructor and confirm that the course has adequate enrollment to make before making travel arrangements.

Students will meet from May 15th-19th in Oxford followed by travel as a group from May 21st-26th. During the travel portion of the course, students will be transported roundtrip from Oxford through the Mississippi Delta to various sites.

This course was created for journalism and IMC students, although it is open to any student who wants to become more literate about social movements. Students’ media projects will be judged based on the individual student’s development as a journalist, so non-majors should not be wary of applying for the course. There are no prerequisites to enroll in IMC 580

All travel for this course outside of Oxford is included. Students will travel via van as a class to sites in the Mississippi Delta.

The Study USA program fee is $750. Included in the program fee are housing, roundtrip group transportation from Oxford, site admissions, and select group meals. Excluded from the program fee are most meals and personal spending money.

Study USA Scholarships

Deadline: Coincides with program deadline

Outreach Study USA Scholarship
The Outreach Study USA Scholarship supports student participation in Study USA courses. Scholarship awards range from $500 to $750 and are designed to help offset the additional expenses associated with academic travel.

Carolyn Ellis Staton Study USA Scholarship
The Carolyn Ellis Staton Study USA Scholarship was established to increase access to unique experiential learning programs. These scholarships will help to make engaging educational travel opportunities more accessible to students with financial need. Scholarship awards range from $250 to $750 and are designed to help offset the additional expenses associated with academic travel.