Dr. William Ferris

Dr. William R. Ferris serves as the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and senior associate director of UNC's Center for the Study of the American South. His distinguished career spans over five decades of documenting and preserving Southern culture, particularly African American music and folklore. After earning his Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969, he established himself as a pioneering force in Southern studies, founding the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. His contributions include conducting thousands of interviews with musicians, creating 15 documentary films, and co-editing the Pulitzer Prize-nominated "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture." As chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1997-2001), he expanded the organization's reach and impact. His work has earned numerous accolades, including a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album for "Voices of Mississippi" (2019) and recognition in the Blues Hall of Fame. Through his courses "Southern Music" and "Southern Literature and the Oral Tradition," he continues to share his vast knowledge of Southern culture with new generations of scholars