Institute for Southern Studies

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Institute for Southern Studies


Motto A New Vision for a Changing South
Formation 1970
Type Non-profit research, education and media center
Headquarters Durham, North Carolina, USA
Official languages English
Executive Director Chris Kromm
Key people Ajamu Dillahunt, Desiree Evans, Sue Sturgis, Kerry Taylor, Timothy Tyson
Website http://www.southernstudies.org

The Institute for Southern Studies is a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Durham, North Carolina that advocates for progressive political and social causes in the Southern United States. The Institute was founded in 1970 by veterans of the U.S. civil rights movement, including Julian Bond, Bob Hall, Howard Romaine and Sue Thrasher. Since 2000, the Institute's executive director has been Chris Kromm, who has worked in the South as a journalist and public interest advocate since 1992.

Contents

[edit] Research and Education Programs

The Institute has worked on a wide range of issues, including economic justice, civil rights, environmental protection and democratic reform. Recent Institute initiatives have included Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch, a project tracking the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; the Peace and Security Program; and the Environment and Energy Reporting Project, launched in 2008.

[edit] Southern Exposure

In 1973, the Institute began publishing Southern Exposure, a journal covering a broad range of political and cultural issues, with a special emphasis on investigative journalism and oral history.

Southern Exposure has been recognized with numerous major journalism awards, including two George Polk Awards (Magazine Reporting and Regional Reporting), a National Magazine Award (Public Interest Reporting), the John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism, and awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the White House Correspondents' Association.

Notable authors who have contributed to Southern Exposure include Julian Bond, Anne Braden, Denise Giardina, Jim Hightower, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Stetson Kennedy, Mab Segrest, Lee Smith, Studs Terkel and Alice Walker. Southern Exposure published quarterly from 1973-2000 and 2002-2005. The Institute now publishes two special Southern Exposure reports a year.

In 2003/2004, Southern Exposure published "Banking on Misery," an award-winning investigative series that was one of the first in-depth reports on the growing predatory lending crisis, especially the leading role of Citigroup in predatory banking practices. The Columbia Journalism Review later credited Southern Exposure with breaking the story about Citigroup's dependence on subprime lending (three out of four loans originating from Citigroup in 2000 were from its subprime unit, Southern Exposure reported) and foreshadowing the 2007/2008 home credit crisis.[1]

[edit] Facing South Newsletter and Blog

Since 2000, the Institute has published a regular email newsletter, Facing South . In 2005, the Institute began a daily blog, also called Facing South [1], which covers a wide range of political and social issues.[2][3] Facing South's regular contributors are Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute; Sue Sturgis, a former reporter for The News & Observer (Raleigh) and The Independent Weekly; and R. Neal, who formerly ran the popular Tennessee blog South Knox Bubba.

The Institute has announced plans to launch an online magazine in 2008.

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dean Starkman, "Tale of Two Citis," Columbia Journalism Review, October 3, 2007
  2. ^ Dan Mitchell, "Going South," The New York Times, June 18, 2005
  3. ^ Katrina vanden Heuvel, "Facing South," The Nation, February 23, 2005
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