Date of Award
8-1-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Southern Studies
First Advisor
Jodi Skipper
Second Advisor
Catarina Passidomo
Third Advisor
Ted Ownby
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This thesis examines the viability of southern studies, a regional studies project on the study of the U.S. South, as an academic field of study and institutionalized site of multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary knowledge production. Southern studies has undergone numerous turns and paradigm shifts since its institutionalization in the 1970s. These ontological, epistemological, and methodological developments have reoriented the objectives of interdisciplinary knowledge production. Despite the present permeability of disciplinary boundaries, the institutional structure and its racial, capitalist, and disciplinary hierarchies hinder communication and collaboration across disciplines and fields and between the “ivory tower†and “real world.†Understanding the impact of this structure is fundamental to recognizing the deficiencies of interdisciplinarity in southern studies and its ambiguity as a distinct interdisciplinary field. The relative absence of recent critical introspection by established stakeholders in the field suggests a problematic complacency by scholars studying the U.S. South. A brief glimpse at the daily news or engagement with critical interdisciplinary discourses clarify the need for new knowledge beyond disciplines—specifically on the South. Through examination of a range of primary and secondary source materials pertaining to southern studies and interdisciplinary fields more broadly, I address southern studies’ past, present, and possible futures as an interdisciplinary project. These sources—including academic publications, program reports and overviews, news articles, online forums, and social media posts—inform southern studies’ successes and failures in mobilizing cross-disciplinary and cross-field bridging and in producing new forms of knowledge. Border crossings implicate an “in-between†space, characterized by a critical relationship to the institutional structure. I argue that the development of a fluid, yet grounded southern studies framework is contingent on the field’s critical position within the institutional structure. “In-between†space foregrounds inclusivity and equality, the bridging necessary for innovation and growth, and a mediation of tensions (e.g., the theory/practice divide). It complicates taken-for-granted dichotomies and empowers scholars/professors, students, institutionalized sites, and the public as equal stakeholders in the South. Ultimately, I propose a transdisciplinary field wherein southern studies is an academic space, educational pursuit, and social force.
Recommended Citation
Streets, Matthew David, "Bridging Souths: Interdisciplinarity and Knowledge Production in Southern Studies" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2406.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2406