Delta Blues Symposium XII: Delta Diversity

Delta Blues Symposium XII:

Delta Diversity

30 March - 1 April 2006

Arkansas State University - Jonesboro

(Unless noted otherwise, all sessions will meet in the ASU Student Union)

Thursday, 30 March

8:00-9:15

Preliminary Lecture: "Yes, Delta Girls Can do Math! My Experiences in County and State Government" (Auditorium)

by Jimmie Lou Fisher, Former Treasurer, State of Arkansas
introduced by Jeremy Unger, President, Young Democrats Club

10:30-12:00

Sex and the South (Mockingbird Room, Student Union), moderated by Joseph Key

"The Color of King Cotton: Miscegenation and Biracial Women in the Antebellum South"

by Kathleen Stone (Arkansas State University)

"Scapegoat for Social Ills: Was Leo Frank on Trial for More than Just Murder?"

by Heather Bels (Arkansas State University)

"'Seducin' Our Women into Lesbianism': Camp Sister Spirit Tangles with the Town of Ovett"

by Dedric Lee (Arkansas State university)

"Whoever Invented the Boob Flashing at Mardi Gras Should Get a Nobel Prize"

by Courtney Clements (Arkansas State University)

2:00-4:00

Concurrent Sessions

1. The Civil Rights Movement in History, Memory, and Imagination (Mockingbird Room)

moderated by Janelle Collins

"A Simple Act"

by Michael Bowman (Arkansas State University)

"'Then Sings My Soul': Music of the Montgomery Bus Boycott"

by Melany Bowman (Arkansas State University)

"Pictures and Perspectives of the 1957 Integration of Little RockÕs Central High School"

by Nicole Smith (Arkansas State University)

"Drama, Docudrama, Documentary, and historiography: The Brown Decision and How Popular Culture Interprets the Past"

by Lisa Perry (Arkansas State University)

2. Bluesmen and Blueswomen (Pine Tree Room) moderated by Bryan moore

"Memphis Minnie Redux: Bonnie Raitt and the Recovery of the Classic Female Blues Singer"

by Jim Baird (University of North Texas)

"'Live & Uppity': Blues Women Creating Alternative Community and Empowerment Through Performance"

by Maria Johnson (Southern Illinois University)

"Ce Dell Davis: The Pine Bluff Connection"

by Douglas Robillard (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)

"Hobo, Hero, Streetcorner Clown: The Strange and Varied Legacy of Don Nix, the Memphis Lark"

by Andrew Scheiber (University of St. Thomas)

4:30-5:30

Reading from Daisy Bates, Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas

By Grif Stockley, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies

Introduced by Gloria Gibson, Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Mockingbird Room)

8:00-9:30

Concert: Kenny Neal (Forum, Downtown Jonesboro)

Introduced by Richard Burns

Friday, 31 March

8:30-10:30

Concurrent Sessions

1. Delta Blues and Literature: Texts and Contexts (Mockingbird Room)

moderated by Michael Spikes

"Reading Down the River: First-Hand Accounts of Personal Journeys Down the Mississippi River"

by Jodi Morris (Arkansas State University)

"'I May Take One or Two More': Discovering History by Analyzing Various
Renditions of Blind Willie McTell's 'Statesboro Blues'"
by Justin Vawter (University of North Texas)

"The Cunninghams and the Lasswells: Dysfunctional Families in Come Back, Lolly Ray"

by Anna Westman (Arkansas State University at Newport)

"Richard Wright's Haiku World"

by Jianqing Zheng (Mississippi Valley State University)

2. Defining Delta Identities (Pine Tree Room)

moderated by Stacy Alley

"Social Being and the Built Landscape of the Mississippi Delta"

by Nick Gorrell (University of Mississippi)

"Language Contact, Language Attention, and the Loss of Cultural Diversity in One Louisiana Delta Community"

by Charles E. Holloway (University of Louisiana at Monroe)

"Strange Odors and Unknown Tastes: When Food Defines Who You Are"

by Francesca M. Muccini (Arkansas State University)

"Delta Fundamentalism: How It Differs from the 'Bible Belt' and Whether it Defines Fundamentalist Christianity"

by Wayne Narey (Arkansas State University)

1. Creative Writing: Prose (Mockingbird Room)

moderated by Robert Lamm

C.D. Albin (Missouri State University at West Plains)

Angela Howell (Paragould, Arkansas)

C.D. Mitchell (University of Memphis)

2. Sterling Blues: The Blues Poetics of Sterling D. Plumpp (Pine Tree Room)

moderated by Michael A. Antonucci

Michael A. Antonucci (Marquette University)

Hermine Pinson (The College of William and Mary)

Duriel E. Harris (Saint Lawrence University)

3. Delta Musics Beyond the Delta (Auditorium)

moderated by Michael Luster

"From Delta Blues to Chicago Blues: Little Brother Montgomery's Musical Styles and His Influence on Willie Dixon" by Mitsutoshi Inaba (University of Oregon)

"True Blues Ain't No New News: Tuning in to Folk Freestyle Hip-Hop at the Crossroads of the Contemporary Mississippi Delta"

by Ali Neff (University of North Carolina)

"From West Point to West Virginia: A Life in the Mines"

by Bill Stalnaker (Fairmont State University)

2:00-4:00

Concurrent Sessions

1. Creative Writing: Poetry (Mockingbird Room)

moderated by Norman Stafford

Greg Brownderville (University of Mississippi)

Jeffrey Clapp and Juan Garcia-Nunez (Dutchess Community College)

Kathryn Waddell Takara (University of Hawai’i)

Jinqing Zheng (Mississippi Valley State University)

2. Blues Backgrounds (Pine Tree Room)

moderated by Gregory Hansen

"Lost Treasures of the Delta: The Coahoma Country Study, 1941-1942"

by Alan Brown (University of West Alabama)

"Directions to the Cross Road: A Contextual Analysis of 'Crossroad Blues'"

by Leta Hendricks (The Ohio State University)

"Cotton: The Fabric of the Blues" by Patricia Robillard (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)

"The River Muse: The Mississippi River Floods of 1927 and 1937 as Inspiration for Delta Musicians"

by Lisa Perry (Arkansas State University)

4:30-5:30

Featured Lecture (Auditorium)

"How Cancer Crossed the Color Line: Problems with Identity and Region in the War on Disease"

by Keith Wailoo (Rutgers University)

introduced by Susan Hanrahan, Dean, College of Nursing and Health Professions

7:30-9:00

Readings: Poetry and Prose (Grand Hall, Fowler Center)

Tom Piazza

Introduced by George Grant, Dean of Library and Information Systems

Sterling Plumpp

Introduced by Lonnie Williams, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Saturday, 1 April

8:30-10:30

Concurrent Workshops

1. Peter McGehee, Arkansas Novelist

(Pine Tree Room)

moderated by Raymond-Jean Frontain

"'Nobody Smart Stays': Peter McGehee's Love/Hate Relationship with Arkansas"

by Raymond-Jean Frontain

(University of Central Arkansas)

"'Just Plain People': Peter McGehee and the Lore of the Mississippi Mud Folk"

by Charles Bain

(University of Central University)

A Reading of Selected Passages from the Fiction of Peter McGehee

By Terrence O'Connor and Ronald Coats

(Louisiana State University)

2. Delta Economies (Mockingbird Room)

moderated by Joseph Donaghy

"Over the Levee: Education Beyond Protection"

by Amy Carpenter (University of North Carolina)

"Diversity Enhancement Through Business and Entrepreneurship Training"

by Larry R. Dale and Patricia-McLin (Arkansas State University

"'You're Welcome Here': A Case Study of Japanese Manufacturer Plant Openings in Lower Mississippi Delta Communities"

by Lillie M. Fears (Arkansas State University)

"Cultural Distortion: Media, Money, and the Hillbilly Legacy"

by Lenore Shoults (Arkansas State University)

2:00-4:00

Concert of Latino Music (ASU Pavilion)

Introduced by Ana Romero and Michael Luster

Grupo Konflicto

Grupo de Danza

5:00-6:00

Delta Composers Concert (Riceland Hall, Fowler Center)

Organized by ASU Department of Music

Museum Exhibit:
"Blues Placemaking Through a Folklorist's Lens"
by Gregory Hansen (Arkansas State University)

(Partial funding made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Folk arts and Traditional Arts Infrastructure Partnership)