William Ferris

Joel Williamson Eminent Professor of History, Senior Associate Director of CSAS, Adjunct Professor in the Curriculum in Folklore M.A. (English), Northwestern University, 1965 M.A. (Folklore), University of Pennsylvania, 1967 Ph.D. (Folklore), University of Pennsylvania, 1969

Research Interests

William R. Ferris is a professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill and an adjunct professor in the Folklore Curriculum. He is associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South, and is widely recognized as a leader in Southern studies, African-American music and folklore.

He is the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Prior to his role at NEH, Ferris served as the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, where he was a faculty member for 18 years.

Ferris has written and edited 10 books and created 15 documentary films, most of which deal with African-American music and other folklore representing the Mississippi Delta. He co-edited the Pulitzer Prize nominee Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, which contains entries on every aspect of Southern culture and is widely recognized as a major reference work linking popular, folk, and academic cultures.

Courses Offered (as Schedules Allow)

For current course listings, consult the Directory of Classes.

• HIST 560 -- Southern Literature and Oral Tradition
• HIST 571 -- Southern Music

Contact

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Department of History
CB #9127, Hamilton Hall
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-9127
Phone: (919) 962-5538