NEWS

Dr. Elizabeth Barfoot Christian, assistant professor of journalism and a member of the News Bureau staff, will be part of a panel discussion marking Willie Morris’ 75th birthday on Nov. 20 at Oxford, Miss.

The event, “Gatherings Before the Grove Series: ‘Mississippi Revolutionary,’” will discuss how Morris turned Harper’s into the hottest magazine in the country and changed the journalism industry. Other panelists include Michael Schnayerson, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, and David Rae Morris, Willie Morris’ son and a nationally renowned photojournalist.

Christian’s professional research interests include literary journalism, popular culture and journalism history. She is under contract for a book, “Rock Brands: Selling Sound in a Media Saturated Culture,” which involves how media forms have affected how Americans listen, buy and use popular music.

Her dissertation on Willie Morris is under consideration for publication as a book, and she has presented a book chapter “The Pedophile Next Door,” about the proliferation of child sex offenders since the advent of the Internet. She most recently spoke at the 2009 Pop Culture Association Conference in New Orleans on P.D. East, editor of “The Petal Paper” during the civil rights era in Mississippi and the integrated marketing communication of the heavy metal band, KISS; and the religious undertones in the music of Bon Jovi.

Written by Judith Roberts