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Director's Update  

March 2012  

Greetings! 

 

I have had the tremendous honor of directing the Center for the Study of the American South for nearly thirteen years now, and it's been a great ride.  During that time we have grown from three staff members to fourteen and our quarters have moved from two cramped basement offices to our beautiful home in the Love House and Hutchins Forum.  The Southern Oral History Program has joined our family and Southern Cultures is flourishing.  We have a magnificent staff who plan a great program every year and gracefully bring off a host of events, talks, concerts, and exhibits without missing a beat.  Everything about the experience has been fun and more exciting than I ever dreamed. 

 

One of the most exciting experiences was the recent opportunity to represent the Center by working with country music star Reba McEntire about her family history on the NBC show "Who Do You Think You Are?".  

 

Maybe you can guess what's coming next.  The same thirteen years have taught me the well-worn truth that you might be able to have it all, but you can't have it all at once.  Before I'm gone for good (not for a while, let's hope!) there are things I need to do as an historian that won't happen as long as I am Center director.  Facing that uncomfortable reality, I have reluctantly decided to return to full-time teaching in the UNC History Department, effective July 1, 2012.  I will continue to edit Southern Cultures as part of an outstanding partnership with Jocelyn Neal, Dave Shaw, and Ayse Erginer, but it's time for someone else to bring fresh ideas and energy to the Center itself. 

 

In another important piece of news, the Center has moved administratively from UNC's Office of the Provost to the College of Arts and Sciences.  This move will anchor the Center more closely to disciplines that traditionally study the South, such as English, History, Music, and the social sciences, will help us coordinate with the Department of American Studies and its major in Southern Studies, and will give us development help from the Arts and Sciences Foundation.  It also means that Senior Associate Dean William Andrews will be leading the search for a Carolina faculty member to lead the Center next, and I am very happy that search is now underway. 

 

As I leave, I am deeply grateful to all the great members of the Carolina family who have helped the Center flourish, including Presidents Erskine Bowles and Tom Ross, Chancellors James Moeser and Holden Thorp, Provosts Dick Richardson, Robert Shelton, Bernadette Gray-Little, and Bruce Carney, and so many more staff members, administrators, faculty members, students, board members, and friends of every description.  I'm especially grateful to Associate Provost Carol Tresolini, who brought me the closest guidance in recent years.  To all of you I give my deepest thanks for the ideas, criticism, fellowship, and support you have shared.  And I am counting on all of you to keep supporting the Center as it continues to grow and contribute to the University, the state, and the South.

 

With best regards,

 

Harry Watson, Director

The Center for the Study of the American South