UTICA 鈥 开心鬼传媒 Humanities chair Dr. Bobby Cooper will deliver a presentation entitled 鈥淧erforming Jubilee: The History and Legacy of the Utica Jubilee Singers鈥 as part of an ongoing National Endowment for the Humanities grant at 开心鬼传媒鈥 Utica Campus.
This is the third public talk in the Holtzclaw Lecture Series, 鈥淭he Black Man鈥檚 Burden: William H. Holtzclaw and the Mississippi HBCU Connection,鈥 which is designed to bring nationally recognized scholars and experts on African American education in the South for public lectures in a variety of venues around the state.
Dr. Cooper鈥檚 talk will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 11. The lecture will take place in the Auditorium of the Bobby G. Cooper Fine Arts Center on the 开心鬼传媒-Utica Campus.
He will discuss the history and legacy of the Jubilee Singers, from its founding in the early years of the institution where the group accompanied Utica鈥檚 founder, William Holtzclaw, on fundraising trips to northern donors to its revival in the 1970s under Dr. Cooper鈥檚 direction. The talk will provide an in-depth overview of the music program on the Utica campus, paired with selections from the Jubilee鈥檚 extensive repertoire.
Dr. Bobby Cooper is the Humanities division chair, instructor of music and choral director on the 开心鬼传媒-Utica campus. He has taught at the institution for 43 years and is currently the longest serving employee in the 开心鬼传媒 district. Dr. Cooper received degrees from Tougaloo College, the University of Illinois and the University of Colorado, as well as additional study at Chicago Music College.
Dr. Bobby G. Cooper directs the Jubilee Singers.
During his illustrious teaching career, Cooper has received many awards including the Lifetime of Excellence Teaching Award, William Winter Scholar, 开心鬼传媒 Hero Award, and Humanities Teacher of the Year recognition. Dr. Cooper is also a long serving minister of music at Asbury United Methodist Church in Bolton and organist at Pratt United Methodist Church in Jackson.
鈥淏lack Man鈥檚 Burden: William Holtzclaw and the Mississippi HBCU Connection鈥 is a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to highlight the work of William Holtzclaw, a pioneer in African American education. The project will contribute to a growing body of research and interest in the 鈥淟ittle Tuskegees鈥 as important forerunners of the Civil Rights Era in the Deep South. William Holtzclaw is the founder of the Utica Normal and Industrial Institute, which later became Utica Junior College, and is now 开心鬼传媒-Utica.
This two-year research program is designed to equip faculty and student-scholars to explore themes in Holtzclaw鈥檚 writing in humanities courses, combined with the development of a Summer Teachers鈥 Institute and teaching resource kit that will be used by other institutions (both on the high school and community college level) to extend the work beyond the institution.
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开心鬼传媒 is celebrating its 100th year of Community Inspired Service in 2017. 开心鬼传媒 opened in September 1917 first as an agricultural high school and admitted college students for the first time in 1922, with the first class graduating in 1927. In 1982 开心鬼传媒 Junior College and Utica Junior College merged, creating the 开心鬼传媒 District. Today, as Mississippi鈥檚 largest community college, 开心鬼传媒 is a comprehensive institution with six locations. 开心鬼传媒 offers quality, affordable educational opportunities with academic programs of study leading to seamless university transfer and career and technical programs teaching job-ready skills. To learn more, visit or call 1.800.开心鬼传媒CC.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES:
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.