Over the course of the week-long February vacation, eight students traveled to the Mississippi Delta region to experience life among the local communities and to document oral histories of the region's culture and tradition. The trip was part of a sociology class taught by Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH) and Prof. David Cunningham (SOC) titled Social Change in American Communities.Teaching assistant Rachel Kulick and Prof. Ellen Schattschneider (ANTH) accompanied the class as the group flew to Memphis and drove a rental van down the famed Highway 61 to the Delta region.

The group stayed in the Delta State University and visited a number of small towns, talking to local residents and recording their stories.

"The class has been devoted to exploring new ways that communities, especially communities that have been historically disadvantaged, [can] tell their own stories and imagine their own future," Auslander said.

Students used voice recorders, video recorders and iPods to explore and record local history and culture. "We are very interested in the use of new multimedia technology and digital technology as a democratic tool for communities' representations of their histories," Auslander said.

Students said the trip's itinerary was flexible, which often proved advantageous.

"Every day we were kind of deciding who we want to meet with, where we want to go," said Margot Moinester '09. "It was kind of free form."

Auslander recalled a failed attempt at planning a community meeting, after which the group learned of a "Soul Food Fiesta" taking place at the same time to raise money for the local Head Start program. "We all piled into the van and went to the other side of town, and were welcomed very warmly," he said. "In hindsight, we realized that was a better way of doing research. Rather than organizing our own meeting, it was so much better to be part of this activity."

Students worked with a number of organizations and communities, including the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale City, the middle school in Clarksdale and Mound Bayou, an entirely African American community founded by ex-slaves in the 1880s.

Auslander said the class "fell in love" with one community called Baptist Town, which had recently opened a small museum called "Back in the Day." The students have been working to develop a walking tour of the community, which will be podcast, he said.

Sam Petsonk '06, who said he was already well-acquainted with much of the traditional blues and gospel music of the region, brought his banjo with him.

At a community event in Mount Bayou, Petsonk played banjo to accompany the singing of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," a spiritual song that was important during the Civil Rights movement. "Having the banjo along gave us some opportunities to really strike up some discussions on emotional terms that we might not otherwise have had the chance to create," he said. "Music is always a great facilitator for understanding."

Cunningham said he was impressed with the speed at which his students formed relationships with local residents.

"One of our fears was that people might not want to talk, but once we said hello and told them what we were doing, people were really open," said Vanessa Leon '08.

Students had the opportunity to talk with veterans of the Civil Rights movement, including a former bodyguard for Martin Luther King Jr. who said he was supposed to have been protecting King on the day he was assassinated.

"Speaking to them firsthand was so inspirational and motivational," Leon said. "It's one thing to read things like that from a history book and it's another thing to sit face to face with who was there, who lived there, who is telling you what it was really like firsthand."

Prior to the trip, students studied the history of the Mississippi Delta and of the Civil Rights movement. They also discussed different approaches to representing historical memory.

Leon said that as a black student, her experiences on the trip differed from those of her white classmates and professors.

"Segregation and racism is very much alive and well, more so than people would like to think it is," she said. "Going down there and seeing literally a railroad track and a white side of town and a black side of town. Seeing it that blatant and in your face was an experience. But in my mind it wasn't just a 'that only happens in the South' type of thing."

Auslander said the class is in the process of deciding the form of their final product, though it will likely be a Web site documenting local oral histories. Ideally, Clarksdale middle school students will have access to the site.

The cost of the trip to students was funded in full by a grant from the Theodore and Jane Norman Fund.

Both professors expressed an interest in continuing the program as a semi-regular course offering.

Auslander said he wished every Brandeis student could have the opportunity to reflect on their experience as Americans by seeing the Mississippi communities.

"The Delta presents this wonderful paradox," he said. "It is one of the persistent pockets of poverty in the United States and yet it was also the sight of cultural creativity and cultural production.