Registration for Memphis Connection is now closed.  If you did not get an opportunity to register, you will be placed into one of the remaining excursions. 

During Welcome Week, all new students will participate in Memphis Connection, an opportunity to go behind the scenes of many of the most famous historical, cultural, and economic sites in the city. With Rhodes faculty members as your guides, you can talk with cutting-edge researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; visit a Muslim mosque; stroll through Graceland; explore The Brooks Museum of Art; or visit over a dozen other sites around the city.  Below you will find the descriptions of the excursions available this year. 

Andy Warhol, Then and Now
This Memphis connection will take students to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art to visit a retrospective of prints and paintings by Andy Warhol. World famous for more than fifteen minutes, Warhol is known as much for his iconic images of Pop art, such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, as for his sometimes outrageous comments.  Among the best of these were his assertions that he wanted to be a machine and that others could do his paintings for him. He has remained a touchstone for artists around the world, and in many ways his presence in art and advertising is stronger today than it was in his life time.
 
David McCarthy teaches courses on American, modern, and contemporary art. His book on Pop art was published by the Tate Gallery, London, in 2000.

Art in Memphis
Memphis is home to a vibrant artistic community featuring both contemporary and historical works of art.  The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art contains an encyclopedic collection of art from the ancient world to the present.  Delta Axis @ Marshall Arts hosts exhibitions by emerging and established contemporary artists.  This trip will introduce participants to on-campus possibilities in the arts as well as two significant exhibition spaces. 

Hamlett Dobbins is director for Rhodes’ Clough-Hanson Gallery.  As well as being a curator, Dobbins is an accomplished juggler: writing, painting, being a husband and a dad, all the while trying to find time to eat bar-b-que.

Originally from southern California, Professor Erin Harmon is a painter and Studio Art Professor.  Since putting down some roots in Memphis, she’s begun numerous collections including bread bag ties and vintage tin dollhouses.

Children’s Storytelling as a Prescription for Health – Church Health Center’s Hope and Healing Facility
The Hope and Healing center is a ministry of the Church Health Center, offering a wide variety of wellness-focused programming for working Memphians who have no health insurance.  Much healthcare in this country for the uninsured is provided in emergency rooms, and most preventive health services are simply not affordable to millions of Americans who are full-time workers.  The Hope and Healing Center takes an integrative and preventive approach to health – helping families establish routines that promote healthy bodies, minds, and spirits.  Parents and children take classes in dance, aerobics, meditation, cooking, and art, and they participate in programs designed to help them maintain healthy lifestyles.
 
We will visit Hope and Healing, learning about their “Prescription for Health” philosophy, and spending some time in the Child Life Area, where we will see some of the programs designed to help children and young teens make choices that promote good social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development.  We’ll spend some of the time learning about the KidsTalk program, in which children share stories about their own experiences.  This program is central to Dr. Walton’s research on narrative development and violence prevention.

Professor Walton is a developmental psychologist who studies children’s narratives about their own experience.  She, and the students on her research team, are collaborating with the professionals in the Child Life Area at Hope and Healing, to help children learn to share their experiences – of success and failure, conflict and reconciliation, and health and illness.   An ongoing research project explores the relationship between the development of narrative skill and other aspects of child health and wellbeing.

Entrepreneurial Innovations in Memphis
Memphis is the birthplace of some very important economic innovations and innovators. We will explore the Memphis roots of self-service grocery stores, national hotel chains, and overnight delivery.  The excursion will include a visit to the Pink Palace Museum.

Art Carden joined the Department of Economics and Business in 2006.  His teaching and research interests include microeconomics, the economic history of the South, entrepreneurship, and Wal-Mart.  When he isn′t teaching or researching these topics, he can likely be found at the Burrow Refectory talking about them with students and colleagues.

Sarah (Simmons) Estelle joined the Department of Economics and Business last year.  Her teaching interests include microeconomics and labor economics.  She currently conducts research in the field of economics of education with a particular focus on college-going and completion of low-income women.  Sarah still enjoys exploring her new home of Memphis, particularly the eateries and music venues.

Exploring the Rhodes – St. Jude Connection: Opportunities for Research and Volunteer Work at a Major Cancer Research Hospital (Excursion Full)
St. Jude Children′s Research Hospital, founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, is one of the world′s premier centers for research and treatment of catastrophic diseases in children, primarily pediatric cancers. Research efforts are directed at understanding the molecular, genetic, and chemical bases of catastrophic diseases in children, identifying cures for such diseases, and promoting their prevention. Research is focused specifically on cancers, acquired and inherited immunodeficiencies, and genetic disorders. Dr. Jay Blundon and Dr. Robert Strandburg will accompany you on a brief tour of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and discuss the “Summer Plus Program,” which offers Rhodes students an opportunity to work in a research lab at St. Jude. A Kinney volunteer will also go along with the group to discuss volunteer opportunities at the hospital.

Dr. Blundon is an Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at Rhodes where he teaches physiology and neuroscience. He is also an Associate Scientist at St. Jude working in the Developmental Neurobiology Department where he is researching the physiology of neurons and synapses in the auditory cortex.

Dr. Strandburg is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department, Dean of Academic Affairs for Curriculum and Director of Rhodes CARES.  As Director of Rhodes CARES, he oversees our partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Faith in the City:  An Introduction to Memphis’ Urban Ministries
Memphis is a city divided in many ways--between black and white, rich and poor, city and county. As part of Memphis, Rhodes exists at the intersection of these dividing lines. Among the organizations committed to healing the divisions in our city are those sponsored by local people of faith. We will visit three of these—the Memphis InterFaith Association (MIFA), STREETS, a ministry to children living in inner-city public housing, and Advance Memphis, a ministry assisting inner-city families to reach financial stability and independence.

Since 1989 Steve Haynes has taught in the religion department at Rhodes, where he offers courses dealing with the Holocaust and religion and education. He is currently at work on a book chronicling church protests during the 1960s in which Rhodes students were involved.

Heroa of Memphis
The term “hero” has become fairly commonplace in popular culture and daily conversation. With a long history going back to the Homeric epics, if not before, “hero” had two basic, complementary meanings: (1) the warriors about whom the poets sang, i.e., the famous characters of traditional narratives such as Herakles, Odysseus, and Oedipus, and (2) exceptional individuals (male and female, old and young) who accomplished great feats during their lifetimes or were recognized as exceptional for some reason. After death these heroes had power, for good or bad, which eminated from their places of burial and, because of this power, became the objects of worship. Our seminar will explore the original Graeco-Roman understanding of heroes and its translation to contemporary America and Memphis. We will look at a number of examples from the ancient world and the polis of Memphis, focusing in particular on Danny Thomas and Elvis Presley, who continue to receive honor from followers seeking the help of supernatural forces.

Prof. Kenny Morrell received his Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Harvard in 1989 and joined the faculty at Rhodes in the fall of 1993. He never saw Elvis in person, but he did purchase an album by the King in his youth, fully appreciates Elvis′ place in the evolution of popular music, and deeply laments that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cleveland.

Prof. David Sick came to Rhodes in 1997 after completing a Ph.D. in classics at the University of Minnesota. In the summer of 1998, he met Dr. Jukka Ammondt, a Finnish professor of linguistics who performs Latin versions of Elvis′ biggest hits. Dr. Ammondt appears regularly on Finnish television and received a papal medal for his commitment to Latin. As a part of the Memphis Connection, Prof. Sick will be singing "Tenere Me Ama."

Prof. Joe Jansen has been teaching at Rhodes for the last three years.  He has a Ph.D. in classics from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He had such a great experience the first time he participated in the Heroa of Memphis that he has recreated the excursion for his visiting friends and family numerous times. 

Hiking Shelby Forest State Park (Excursion Full)
Only 12 miles north of Rhodes’ campus, Shelby Forest State Park offers extensive hiking trails, canoeing, fishing, hunting, camping, disc (Frisbee) golf, a nature center and more.  Despite the park’s proximity to Memphis, visitors usually find they have the hiking trails and other attractions all to themselves. 
 
Discover the history of the park, its wildlife, park activities, and its wild, sandy Mississippi river beach via a 3-hour hike and visit.  Good walking shoes, sunscreen, insect repellent, and a camera are recommended items to bring along.

David Romano comes from the French part of Canada (Quebec) and joined Rhodes in the summer of 2006.  He teaches courses in International Studies and the politics of the Middle East.  Although hiking through the Shelby Forest State Park and picnicking on the sandy shores of the Mississippi doesn′t APPEAR to have anything to do with Canada, the Middle East, or international studies, Professor Romano promises to talk a bit about these things while walking through the forest.

Hispanic Memphis
 The area now occupied by Memphis has been marked by Hispanic cultures for almost 500 years. Participants in this session will explore the city’s Hispanic heritage and have the opportunity to begin forming links with Spanish-speaking members of the current local community. Downtown, the tour will visit the Mississippi River, the Hernando Desoto Bridge, the San Fernando de las Barrancas historic park, and the site of the Memphis Red Sox ballpark.  From there, the itinerary moves on to Latino Memphis, where participants will learn about opportunities for working alongside today’s Hispanic communities in Memphis.

Prof. Elizabeth Pettinaroli teaches Colonial and Early Modern Spanish Literature, and Spanish language. Her current research project includes a study of Space and Place in the Early Modern Hispanic world.   Concentrating on poems, local historiography, and early maps of the cities of Granada and Mexico, the study looks into the ostensibly discrete purviews of literature and geography as mutually constitutive categories shaping the literary elaboration of empire.

Hog Heaven
Dry versus wet.  Pulled versus chopped.  Hickory versus oak wood to smoke the meat. Pecan versus apple.  If you live in Memphis, you’re expected to have a strong opinion about barbecue.  On this Memphis Connection, you’ll visit three different Memphis barbecues to sample the pork, the coleslaw, barbecued bologna (don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it), and barbecued spaghetti.  You’ll have an opportunity to talk with the men and women who run the barbecue pits, and learn about the history of barbecue, as well as some of the ways that it is tied up in the history of the South: church barbecues, political barbecues and segregated and integrated barbecues.   

Robert Dove is Director of the Student Counseling Center and an avid fan of smoked meat.

Literary Oxford, Mississippi
Students will visit Oxford, Mississippi, a small town that looms large on the Southern literary landscape. The excursion will include a guided tour of Rowan Oak, William Faulkner’s home, and a visit to Square Books, widely regarded as one of the nation’s best bookstores.

Dr. Leslie Petty teaches nineteenth-century American literature and Women’s Studies, and her current research is concerned with depictions of feminist activism in American fiction. Professor Petty lives with her dogs, Maddux and Ida B, and she enjoys watching Braves baseball and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Memphis Botanic Gardens
Memphis Botanic Garden strives to enhance lives by connecting people with plants and by increasing awareness and appreciation of our environment. The 96-acre property includes 23 specialty gardens, which provide an in-depth look into various families of plants, flowers and trees. Memphis Botanic Garden offers a variety of hands-on learning activities for adults and runs youth educational programs including field trip opportunities and summer camps for local youngsters. 

The Memphis Botanic Garden relies on volunteer service to remain a successful center for horticulture and education. Whether you help in the garden, offer your skills in the office or provide mentorship in youth classes and camps, every effort is critical to keeping the Garden growing.  Previous Rhodes students have also found opportunities for research at the Gardens.

We will explore the Gardens and hear about their history, which dates back to the founding of the City of Memphis.  From there, we will get ‘down and dirty’ in the Japanese Gardens with the MBC horticultural staff.

Dr. Jonathan Fitz Gerald is an Assistant Professor in the Rhodes Biology department.  He is currently studying the genetics and cell biology of seed development.  Prior to coming to Rhodes, Dr. Fitz Gerald had been studying plant genetics in both Singapore and France. 

Memphis Meets the Middle East: A Panorama of Middle Eastern Culture in Memphis
This excursion provides a window into the Middle Eastern culture, in general, and the local Middle Eastern community in Memphis in particular. Through a variety of experiences, including a visit to the local mosque at prayer time, a hafla (a concert of music and dance), an exhibition of costumes and artifacts plus a mezza (a buffet of appetizers), students will discover the fascinating and colorful world of the Middle East right here in Memphis. Students will also meet members of the local Middle Eastern community and learn about their experiences of living as a community of the Islamic faith in post 9/11 America.

For our visit to the mosque, students must dress modestly.  Do NOT wear shorts, mini skirts, tank and crop tops and sleeveless shirts because they are not appropriate mosque attire. Female students are NOT required to wear head scarves.

“Zeina” has studied Middle Eastern and Central Asian culture for over 30 years. She has studied in Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Afghanistan and Lebanon. She has taught “belly dancing” and regional folklore in dance workshops across the U.S. and has presented exhibitions of Middle Eastern and Central Asian clothing and artifacts as well. Her alter ego is Dee Birnbaum, Associate Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

Memphis Monuments
Much of the history of Memphis can be discovered on the grave markers and public monuments throughout our city. A century ago there was a monument building boom during which time monuments were erected in many of our public parks and cemeteries. Many of the monuments commemorate the city founders, and others were erected with elaborate ceremonies to recall figures from the Civil War. We will visit several of these monuments as we tour the downtown and Midtown areas of Memphis. For example, we will see a panorama of the social, religious, political, and economic conditions of Memphis when we visit Elmwood Cemetery. In the massive monuments at Elmwood the complex story of race, class, and gender in our river city is documented in stone. In our tour of the graves of Confederate generals, formerly enslaved people, river folks, outlaws, and the thousands who died in the Yellow Fever epidemic, we will discuss how the past can influence our lives and inform our choices. We will also stop on Beale Street to visit W. C. Handy Park and the historic A. Schwab′s store, which is the only remaining original business on Beale Street. We will conclude with a stop by the famous Arcade Restaurant on South Main where we will cool down with a handmade milkshake.

Prof. Milton Moreland (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University) teaches courses in the Life Program and the Search Program. He is a specialist in biblical studies and archaeology. He is the co-chair of the Archaeology Program and helps direct the Rhodes field school in west Tennessee each May. He has led student groups to Israel, Jordan, and Greece and is leading student projects at the Ames Plantation with the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies this summer. When not digging ancient artifacts, he can often be found spending his summer days with a youth baseball or soccer team.

Robert Saxe (Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is assistant professor of history and the director of the American Studies program.  He teaches courses in 20th Century U.S. history, political history, and war and society.  He is completing a book on the return of World War II veterans and their impact on Cold War American politics and culture.

Overton Park and Memphis Zoo (Excursion Full)
We will hike a trail through Overton Park, 170 acres of forest located across the street from Rhodes College.  Overton Park is the largest green space in urban Memphis and has one of the oldest urban old-growth forests in U.S., rich in oaks and tulip poplars.  It is one of the favorite places of the Rhodes community for nature walking, running, and relaxing. We will end our afternoon by visiting the Memphis Zoo, home to a pair of Giant Pandas and more than other 3,000 animals.  Zoo researchers will talk to us about their projects on the Giant Pandas and the role of the Memphis Zoo in world-wide efforts to protect wildlife.

Rosanna Cappellato is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology. Environmental Sciences and Conservation Biology are some of the courses she teaches at Rhodes College. She also uses Overton Park as an outdoor laboratory for her classes and for individual student research projects.

The Past and the Future: Remembering the Civil Rights Movement and Discovering the Impact Today
This excursion will explore the history that is forever tied between the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the city of Memphis.  We will look at how the past has a direct impact on current actions in social justice and human rights movements.  We will also explore the Civil Rights Museum located at the Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King′s assassination. The museum chronicles key episodes of the American civil rights movement and examines how the legacy of this movement has inspired participation in civil and human rights efforts globally.

Amy Oakes is the Assistant Director of Career Services at Rhodes College.  She works with first-year students through seniors on a variety of career development topics, including career and major decision making.  She also serves as a NCBI (National Coalition Building Institute) Diversity Trainer for Rhodes and is involved in several committees that focus on student services reengineering. 

Regina Simmons is the Associate Director of Residence Life.  She has lived and worked in Memphis for almost three years, and is dedicated to see students develop the skills to have meaningful experiences during their college career.  Regina hails from the Carolinas, being raised in South Carolina and educated in North Carolina.  She loves photography and building houses in Central America.

Jane Wells is the Head Field Hockey Coach and Assistant Coordinator of Recreational Services.  She is responsible for all aspects of the varsity field hockey program as well as running 4 of the 8 intramural sports Rhodes offers.  Jane graduated from Rhodes in 2003 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology.  Outside of Athletics Jane has worked on several student affairs teams and enjoys spending her spring breaks doing service work with Rhodes Rebuilds in New Orleans. 

River City: Memphis Waterfront and Downtown Trolley
On this excursion we will ride the monorail to Mud Island Park in the middle of the mighty Mississippi to see where it all started for the city of Memphis. Once there, we will tour the River Walk, one of the most unique representations of the Mississippi River in the world. It is a 5-block long replica of the lower Mississippi river, from Cairo, IL, to New Orleans, LA. Each 30" stride is equivalent to one mile on the actual river. Along your journey, you′ll revisit historical events and learn about geographical transformations. The "1,000" mile journey concludes at the Gulf of Mexico, a one acre enclosure that holds 1.3 million gallons of water. There, visitors can enjoy a leisurely pedal boat ride around the Gulf area with the Memphis skyline in the background.

After riding the monorail back downtown, we will take a roundtrip tour on the Riverfront Trolley line, including a walk through the South Main district, home to shops, galleries, restaurants and the Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. The trip will be led by Walt Tennyson, Rhodes College Chaplain.

Walt Tennyson is Chaplain and Director of Community Service at Rhodes. Walt oversees the areas of religious life and community service at Rhodes through the Bonner Center for Faith and Service.

Sports of Memphis (Excursion Full)
Encounter the professional sports world of Memphis.  Tour the Fed Ex Forum, home of the NBA′s Memphis Grizzlies and college basketball’s Memphis Tigers.  See AutoZone Park, home field of the Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Experience and learn of the social and economic impacts these organizations have on the city of Memphis. 

Mike Clary is the Director of Athletics and Head Women′s Golf Coach at Rhodes.  He is a 1977 Rhodes graduate where he majored in Biology.  Coach Clary has also coached football, track and field and swimming.

Thad Phillips is the Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach and Assistant Coordinator for Recreational Services.  He is in his second year at Rhodes after coaching in Atlanta, Georgia and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Well, Shakespeare, he′s in the alley: Memphis Theatre
It’s an exciting time for theatre in Memphis: a new African American theatre recently opened; the Playhouse on the Square is in the midst of an ambitious expansion; and an outdoor Shakespeare festival commences their first season this fall in Germantown. This excursion will introduce you to a range of professional and community playhouses in the area, concluding at our own McCoy Theatre right here on campus. We will meet with local theatre professionals who will introduce us to this vibrant community and give us a preview of the upcoming seasons.

Scott Newstok teaches in the English Department at Rhodes. He specializes in Shakespeare, including a course this fall on filmed versions of Shakespeare’s plays. He has also taught world drama surveys as well as served as a lighting designer for dramas and operas.