What Does It Mean to Be Southern?

Community college teacher Julie Mullis describes how a classroom experience with students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives created a memorable and “multi-colored” sense of place and belonging. The conversations and debates that took place in a Humanities 122 class illuminated a profound truth for Mullis and her students: “we all had this common strand of humanity to us, no matter where we came from or how we grew up.” By considering a single topic—Southern culture—from a variety of perspectives, the classroom opened up a space for its diverse learners to celebrate both similarities and differences.