OXFORD, Miss. – Ted Ownby, interim director of the Center
for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of
Mississippi, has been chosen to participate in the
Organization of American Historians Distinguished
Lectureship Program.
“This is an especially appealing honor because I get to do
something that I like – talk about Southern history – in a
way that benefits a group I really admire: the Organization
of American Historians,” said Ownby, UM professor of
history and Southern studies.
Ownby, who has been a UM faculty member for 20 years, is
the author of numerous article publications and is
co-editing The Mississippi Encyclopedia, which is to be
published in 2009. He has provided OAH with a list of
possible lecture topics, including “Is There Still an
American South? A Historian Critiques the Question” and
“Shopping in Mississippi History.”
The organization’s mission statement says the OAH is to
“promote excellence in the scholarship, teaching, and
presentation of American history, and encourage wide
discussion of historical questions and equitable treatment
of all practitioners of history.”
OAH is the largest professional society devoted to the
study of American history. Presidents of the OAH
Distinguished Lectureship Program have been appointing
colleagues to the program for more than 25 years to lecture
at institutions.
“The OAH has been a leader in trying out innovative
approaches to scholarship and teaching, so I am happy to
get to be part of its group of lectures,” Ownby said.
For more information on the Center for the Study of
Southern Culture, go to