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University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group
The University of Mississippi

UMSRG Goals

  • Create opportunities for University of Mississippi (UM) students and faculty interested in studying slavery, Indian removal, settler colonialism and the legacies of slavery.
  • Bring state of the art research techniques and methodologies for exploring these issues to the UM campus.
  • Support these efforts through external grants and funding opportunities.
  • Become known as a site for innovative practices in American slavery research through the use of traditional manuscript collections, archaeology, public anthropology, cultural geography, historical comparative sociology, ethnography/oral history, critical race analysis, literary analysis and engaged community research.
  • Become a clearinghouse for scholars interested in studying slavery in general and slavery in the lower south, in particular. Develop visiting scholars’ program.
  • Build connections among our campus community interested in these issues. For information about who we’re working with see our page on Partners.
  • Develop classes on “Slavery and the University of Mississippi” for undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Build connections to our local community. We’re particularly interested in working with Oxford and Lafayette County schools, and Oxford and Lafayette County history groups as well as entities in Holly Springs and Pontotoc.
  • Develop summer classes for Mississippi teachers and community members on the history of slavery on campus and in North Mississippi generally.
  • Build connections to our statewide community. We’re particularly interested in working with Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson.
  • Build connections to the larger national discussion on slavery and the University. We’re particularly interested in working with Brown University Center for Study of Slavery and Justice, University of Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Alcorn, Tougaloo, and Mississippi State.
  • Build connections to the larger national and global discussion on slavery. We’re particularly interested in working with the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery and the Smithsonian Institution.
  • Build a permanent site or destination for students and visitors to learn about slavery on campus and in North Mississippi generally by exhibiting artifacts and objects related to slavery our locale.