The MyStory Griot Project at the University of West Florida draws from the oral and written practices of sharing stories. A griot is a storyteller. In West African tradition, the griot is the one who bears the history of the village. The project invites students from the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities or CASSH, as well as faculty and staff from the college’s various disciplines to share their stories based on race, ethnicity and diversity. The university is currently looking ahead to the spring semester and asking members of their campus community to share their personal stories. Today, we are going to highlight an earlier entry. It’s a story of “Desegregation in the South” — and one earth-shattering day in history — submitted by Dr. Steve Brown, the Dean of CASSH.

We’ll also explore variants of a virus and how they are detected, hear how a New England college is helping students keep their summer earnings, and spend an Academic Minute exploring the madness of a writer’s mind.

Photo courtesy of University of West Florida.