CDS Undergraduate Tabria Williford Presents Research to Duke President’s Council on Black Affairs
Center for Documentary Studies student Tabria Williford was one of five Duke undergraduates recently selected to present her research work to Duke President’s Council on Black Affairs during their spring 2013 semester meeting. Williford’s documentary project, “Durham Food Bank and Urban Ministries: Documentary Photographs, 2011–2012″ was drawn from fieldwork she completed during her first two [...]
“Gullah Geechee Gala” Celebrates New Partnership with Historic African American Community
Duke University is hosting a kickoff gala for a new summer program that will send young scholars from the Carolinas—including fourteen Duke students—to live and work with Gullah Geechee community groups in Conway, South Carolina, on projects ranging from cultural history to education, public policy, and health. The program is a collaboration between Duke University’s Benjamin [...]
“The Guestworker”: Reception, Free Screening, and Filmmaker Q&A on March 21
A film event at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh focuses on The Guestworker, which documents a grueling season on a North Carolina farm. At a time when American immigration policies are generating heated debate, the film offers an evenhanded look at some of those policies in action. The Guestworker Thursday, March 21: 6:30 p.m. reception; [...]
Reception for Three New Exhibits Celebrating Student Action With Farmworkers History, Thursday, September 20
Three new exhibitions at Duke University Libraries explore the human experience of farmworkers and the history of a nonprofit organization, Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF), dedicated to improving their lives; the exhibits will be on view through December 9, 2012. An opening reception will feature Latin American food and speakers reflecting on SAF’s evolution and the transformative power of [...]
Listen: Big Shed/CDS Audio Documentary “The Great Moonshine Conspiracy”
In his 2011 book Spirits of Just Men: Mountaineers, Liquor Bosses, and Lawmen in the Moonshine Capital of the World (University of Illinois Press), Charlie Thompson chronicles Virginia’s Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935, which made national news and exposed the far-reaching and pervasive tendrils of Appalachia’s local moonshine economy. The folks at the audio and [...]
2012 Julia Harper Day Award Winner: Logan Hasson
The Julia Harper Day Award was created by the Center for Documentary Studies in 1992 in memory of the young woman who was the Center’s first staff member, a writer and photographer of real accomplishment. This $500 award goes to a graduating Duke University senior who has demonstrated excellence in documentary studies and contributed significantly [...]
Undergrad Director Charlie Thompson on Moonshine, Mountaineers, and Motorcycles at the Virginia Festival of the Book, March 23
Charlie Thompson, director of the undergraduate program at CDS, will be on a panel, “Moonshine, Mountaineers, and Motorcycles: On the Crooked Road Then and Now,” at the Virginia Festival of the Book with essayist Michael Abraham, author of Harmonic Highways: Motorcycling Virginia’s Crooked Road; and Paddy Bowman, author of Through the Schoolhouse Door: Folklore, Community, Curriculum. Thompson will discuss his book [...]
Latin American Film Festival 25th Anniversary Celebration on November 6 at UNC-Chapel Hill
Local filmmakers Rodrigo Dorfman, Altha Cravey, Penny Simpson, and Charlie Thompson of the Center for Documentary Studies will participate in a panel discussion on the UNC campus in conjunction with the 25th anniversary celebration of North Carolina’s Latin American Film Festival. Sunday, November 6, 4 p.m. Nelson Mandela Auditorium, FedEx Global Education Center UNC-Chapel Hill [...]
“Whiskey and Geography”: “Spirits of Just Men” Excerpts Featured on Southern Spaces
The online journal Southern Spaces, produced at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, recently published two excerpts from Charles Thompson’s new book, Spirits of Just Men: Mountaineers, Liquor Bosses, and Lawmen in the Moonshine Capital of the World. The first excerpt, a video produced by Marissa Katarina Bergmann, offers glimpses of modern-day Shooting Creek juxtaposed with [...]
Charlie Thompson on “Spirits of Just Men”
Charlie Thompson, director of the undergraduate program at CDS, holds the faculty position of Lecturer in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Duke and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Religion. His latest book, Spirits of Just Men: Mountaineers, Liquor Bosses, and Lawmen in the Moonshine Capital of the World (University of Illinois [...]
“The Parchman Hour” Play Presented at the Freedom Riders 50th Anniversary Reunion in Jackson, Mississippi in May 2011
The Parchman Hour brings to the stage powerful oral histories and conversations from the Freedom Rides’ most iconic protagonists and antagonists alike. Based on interviews, newspaper accounts, documentary imagery, and other primary sources, The Parchman Hour is the outgrowth of a yearlong residency by actor and playwright Mike Wiley, a visiting professor at the Center for [...]
“Spirits of Just Men” by Charles D. Thompson Jr.
Spirits of Just Men tells the story of moonshine in 1930s America, as seen through the remarkable location of Franklin County, Virginia, a place that many still refer to as the “moonshine capital of the world.” Charles D. Thompson Jr., curriculum and education director at the Center for Documentary Studies and a lecturer in cultural [...]
Student Actors to Tour Mississippi with The Parchman Hour on 50th Anniversary of Freedom Rides
A busload of student actors, a noted playwright/actor, a civil rights historian, and several documentarians will be traveling to Mississippi over Spring Break (March 6-11) to present The Parchman Hour, an original play featuring the songs and stories of the 1961 Freedom Riders. For the ’61 Freedom Rides, a group of mostly young people, black [...]
“Brother Towns/Pueblos Hermanos” Screening at North Carolina Latin American Film Festival
The documentary film Brother Towns/Pueblos Hermanos, a project of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, will be screened at the opening night of the North Carolina Latin American Film Festival. Director Charles D. Thompson, Jr. will introduce the film and a Q&A will follow the screening. Monday, November 1, 7 p.m. Carolina Theatre (Cinema [...]
Screenings in North Carolina of “Brother Towns / Pueblos Hermanos,” a Documentary Film about Immigration
The North Carolina Council of Churches and documentary filmmaker Charles D. Thompson are partnering on a statewide series of showings of Thompson’s immigration saga Brother Towns/Pueblos Hermanos. Throughout October and November, from Asheville to Wilmington, audiences can watch the film and then take part in discussions about immigration. Brother Towns/Pueblos Hermanos, a project of the Center [...]
“Brother Towns” Screening in Charlottesville, Virginia with Julian Bond
Brother Towns Screening and Panel Discussion Lead by NAACP Chairman Emeritus Julian Bond Tuesday, April 27, 7:30 p.m. Earl Dickinson Theater Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville, Virginia
“Brother Towns / Pueblos Hermanos” Screening April 21 at Griffith Film Theater
Brother Towns/Pueblos Hermanos April 21, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Griffith Film Theater, West Campus, Duke University Directed by Charles D. Thompson, Jr. and Michael Davey Associate Director: Margaret Morales A Project of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University www.brothertowns.com The documentary film Brother Towns / Pueblos Hermanos is a story of two towns linked by [...]
Student Action with Farmworkers Receive Service-Learning Award for Contributions to CDS Undergraduate Classes
Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) was honored last month by Duke University’s Service-Learning Program with a Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Award, in recognition of SAF’s long commitment to supporting CDS undergraduate courses. SAF was nominated for the Alden Award by Charlie Thompson, director of undergraduate education at CDS, and Christopher Sims, an instructor at CDS, [...]
