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Course detail: Remembering Emmett Till
Just over 65 years ago, 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped from his great-uncle's home in Money, Mississippi, for whistling at a white woman. His abductors tortured and murdered him before throwing his body into the Tallahatchie River. When Emmett's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, chose an open-casket funeral back in their hometown of Chicago, the brutality of Emmett's murder made front-page headlines across the globe, helping to spark the Civil Rights Movement. Dave Tell will discuss how the memorials devoted to Emmett Till's murder have altered the Mississippi Delta's physical and cultural landscape. We'll learn about five accounts of the commemoration of this infamous crime. In a development no one could have foreseen, Till's murder - one of the darkest moments in the region's history - has become an economic driver for the Delta.
Instructor Bio: Dave Tell is professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. He is the author of "Confessional Crises and Cultural Politics in Twentieth Century America" (Penn State University Press, 2012) and "Remembering Emmett Till" (University of Chicago Press, 2019). "Remembering Emmett Till" was listed as a 2019 book of the year by The Economist and won the 2020 McLemore Prize and the 2021 Byron Caldwell Smith Book Award. Professor Tell is a former fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a founding director of the Emmett Till Memory Project - a GPS-enabled smart-phone app dedicated to commemorating the murder of Emmett Till. His writing on the Till murder has been published in Esquire, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Atlantic Monthly and LitHub. From writing a bullet-proof sign to designing an exhibit for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Tell is firmly committed to the public value of the humanities.
Course Accessibility: Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend University of Kansas sponsored events. If you require reasonable accommodations in order to participate in an event, please email jayhawkglobal@ku.edu or call 785-864-6779 at least three weeks before the first day of the event.
Course pre-requisites
(required) Osher Membership Fee
Instructor Bio: Dave Tell is professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. He is the author of "Confessional Crises and Cultural Politics in Twentieth Century America" (Penn State University Press, 2012) and "Remembering Emmett Till" (University of Chicago Press, 2019). "Remembering Emmett Till" was listed as a 2019 book of the year by The Economist and won the 2020 McLemore Prize and the 2021 Byron Caldwell Smith Book Award. Professor Tell is a former fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a founding director of the Emmett Till Memory Project - a GPS-enabled smart-phone app dedicated to commemorating the murder of Emmett Till. His writing on the Till murder has been published in Esquire, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Atlantic Monthly and LitHub. From writing a bullet-proof sign to designing an exhibit for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Tell is firmly committed to the public value of the humanities.
An Osher membership fee of $25 is required to enroll in this class. If you have not paid your membership fee, please click on the blue link below under "course accessibility" to add the membership fee to your shopping cart. Then continue shopping to select your courses and/or events. If you have questions about whether or not you have paid your member fee, please call 785-864-6779.
Course Accessibility: Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend University of Kansas sponsored events. If you require reasonable accommodations in order to participate in an event, please email jayhawkglobal@ku.edu or call 785-864-6779 at least three weeks before the first day of the event.
(required) Osher Membership Fee
