A University of Memphis professor has won an award that willallow her to spend six months next year doing academic research inthe United Kingdom.
Allison Graham, professor and director of women's studies,received the Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorship.
Graham received the award through the School of American andCanadian Studies at the University of Nottingham.
"Because the faculty there know of my work and my book, 'Framingthe South: Hollywood, Television, and Race During the Civil RightsStruggle,' and my co-produced documentary, At the River I Stand,the school itself applied for the grant to bring me to its campusfor an extended stay," Graham said.
Graham will focus her research on eugenics and how it applies tothe 20th Century South.
Eugenics, a movement in science and politics in the UnitedStates and England in the early 20th Century aimed to "improvehuman beings through selective breeding and, usually forced,sterilization," Graham said. "It was inherently racist, funded bylarge corporations, and practiced by state agencies throughout theU.S."
In addition to conducting research, Graham will also be sharingher work with British students.
"I will not be teaching, but will deliver a series of lecturesabout my research on race, culture and the American South at anumber of universities in England, Scotland, Wales and NorthernIreland," Graham said.
Professor David Appleby in the Department of Communications, whoco-produced At the River I Stand with Graham, said she is apleasure to work with and has a great imagination.
"The thing about Graham is that her research is not just forherself," Appleby said. "Most academics write their research forthem and other researchers, but Graham writes for the public.
