Major authority on Southern culture to speak at MSU

Contact: Maridith Geuder

A nationally recognized sociologist who specializes in Southern culture will speak Friday [Oct. 29] at Mississippi State.

"What's Southern about the South?" will be John Shelton Reed's topic at a 2 p.m. public program in the university's Mitchell Memorial Library auditorium.

Reed, Kenan Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, comes to campus as a guest of the department of sociology, anthropology and social work.

In addition to founding UNC's Center for the Study of the American South, he also was longtime director of the school's Howard Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. This fall, he is serving as a visiting professor at the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

Reed has written or edited more than a dozen books, including "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South," co-written with his wife Dale Volberg Reed. He is the only sociologist to be featured in "Roy Blount's Book of Southern Humor," an anthology by the noted Southern humorist of the book's title.

Reed has been a consultant for Southern Living magazine, Turner South regional television network and other major media. His articles have appeared in publications as diverse as Southern Living and Science.

For more information about Reed's visit, telephone (662) 325-2495.