FYI Research:
Conference to examine globalization of the South

In the past 20 years, banks in North Carolina have added a Spanish-language option to ATMs, downtown Cary has become lined with several shops that sell only traditional Indian wear, and some music-industry insiders in Nashville have heralded Bering Strait -- a contemporary country band from Russia -- as the next big thing. Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts -- all with headquarters in the American South -- have built stakes in nation after nation around the world.

"All you have to do is look around, and it's very clear," said James Peacock, professor of anthropology and comparative literature at Carolina. "The world is coming into the South, and the South is going out to the world."

This globalization, Peacock said, is perhaps the "most important change to happening to the American South since the South was created as a region in the 1830s."

Since its inception, he said, the American South has been viewed as an isolated region with a distinct identity that's tied to tradition and a sense of place. But, he added, "What happens to this identity as more of the world reaches in to the South, and as more of the South reaches out to the world?"

Expect to get answers to these questions at the "Navigating the Globalization of the American South" conference to be held March 3 and 4 at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Hosted by the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) and the Center for the Study of the American South, the interdisciplinary conference will welcome more than 60 presenters from across the nation and will explore the changing face of the American South in today's transnational world. Discussion topics range from economic transformation and southern textiles to blues music and southern masculinity.

"What's so interesting about the conference is the mix of academics, practitioners, policymakers and artists," said Niklaus Steiner, executive director of UCIS. "In one room, you can go and listen to the typical academic presentation, and right next door, you'll have artists showing their most recent work. There's something of interest for everyone."

The conference will open at 4 p.m. on March 3 with a preview of the documentary "The Guestworker: Bienvenidos a Carolina del Norte." Produced and directed by Durham filmmakers Charles Thompson and Cynthia Hill, the film focuses on the lives of Mexican immigrant workers who came to North Carolina as part of a work-visa program. The preview will be followed by the keynote address by Peter Coclanis, associate provost for international affairs and professor of history at Carolina, at 6 p.m.

"Anybody can see the tremendous changes that have occurred over the past 20 or 30 years," Steiner said. "These changes have had both good and bad effects. It's hard to tell a textile worker who has been laid off in Kannapolis that globalization is a good thing. But we hope this conference can contribute to the discussion by presenting the complexities of globalization, and help people in their schools, medical offices, workplaces or communities deal with this phenomenon."

The conference is a culmination of more than a decade of work by Carolina faculty. In 1989, Carolina's Institute of Arts and Humanities held a seminar called "The Multicultural South," which led to the institute and then UCIS being awarded three grants from the Rockefeller Foundation between 1991 and 2004. "Navigating the Globalization of the American South" is the product of the third Rockefeller grant.

This conference also comes on the eve of the publication of "The American South in a Global World," which will be released by UNC Press on March 7. "The American South," which also explores how the American South is being reshaped by globalization, is edited by Peacock; Harry Watson, professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of the American South; and Carrie Matthews, a doctoral candidate in comparative literature.

"We're aren't doing this conference and book for just academics who study the American South," Peacock said. "This is for people from all backgrounds and specialties, including academics and nonacademics, the young and the old.

"It's for people who want to participate in thinking about the changes that are happening in our everyday lives," he added.

What: "Navigating the Globalization of the American South: An interdisciplinary conference exploring the changing face of the southern United States."

When: March 3 and 4.

Where: The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education

Cost: $25 before Feb 25, $35 after Feb 25.

For registration information and a complete list of presenters and topics, check out the conference's web site. Note the deadline for registering is Feb 28.

Provided by Research and Economic Development.
Editor: Neil Caudle. Writer: Cherry Crayton.

Technology transfer update

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A patent is a legal document granting inventors the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using or selling an invention for a number of years. A license agreement is a written contract granting permission for a person or company to use an invention under certain terms. For more information about OTD, go to research.unc.edu/otd.