Center for the Study of the American South

The Center for the Study of the American South (CSAS) is an academic organization dedicated to the study of "southern history, literature, and culture as well as ongoing social, political, and economic issues" at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The CSAS was the brainchild of a working group of faculty at UNC's Institute for Research in Social Science, a group that included IRSS director John Shelton Reed (William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology at UNC), anthropologist James Peacock, and David Moltke-Hansen (curator of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC's Wilson Library). This group recognized the value of an umbrella organization that could help faculty and students studying the South to communicate, collaborate, and combine resources. They presented their idea to the UNC Board of Governors, which established the CSAS in 1992 with Reed as acting director, until he was succeeded by Moltke-Hansen. Harry Watson, professor of history at UNC, has been the director of the CSAS since 1999.

The stated mission of the CSAS is

The primary focus of the CSAS is supporting inter-departmental research within UNC and disseminating the results. The Center funds and promotes many activities, including the publication of the quarterly journal Southern Cultures (ISSN 1068-8218), edited originally by Reed and Watson, now edited by Watson and Jocelyn Neal, associate professor in UNC's Department of Music.

Over 60 UNC faculty members are associated with the CSAS, from disciplines including African American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Archeology, Creative Writing, English Studies, Folklore, Geography, History, Music, Political Science, Religious Studies, and Sociology. Examples include Philip F. Gura (American Studies), who studies banjo music in the nineteenth century, and Jocelyn R. Neal (Music), who studies country music and dance.

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