IBL Student Groups

The Southern Griot

graduate group banner

“Uniting scholars across disciplines through dialogue, reflection, and collective learning.” 

Mission Statement 

The Southern Griot Graduate Group is a collaborative interdisciplinary intellectual community that provides a supportive and welcoming environment for graduate students engaged in the study of society, culture, and institutional life. 
 
In homage to earlier African American student literary collectives on campus, The Southern Griot revives a tradition of storytelling and collective reflection to better understand the cultural and social dynamics that shape everyday life. 
 
The group offers space to share works-in-progress exchange ideas, and workshop writing while engaging the theoretical, methodological, and ethical questions that arise in scholarship across disciplines. Grounded in mutual respect and intellectual trust, the group encourages open dialogue among scholars working from diverse disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Open to graduate students from all programs and colleges.

What We Do

Through dynamic writing workshops, lively discussion-based meetings, and meaningful engagements with faculty and visiting scholars, members gain constructive feedback, sharpen their thinking, broaden their academic knowledge, and expand their analytical approaches. 

Driven by a strong collective ethos, members actively shape the group’s agenda and are encouraged to lead conversations that reflect their own intellectual passions and scholarly goals. In doing so, the group supports scholarly development and affirms collaborative knowledge-making as essential to rigorous academic inquiry.

Meeting location: FAO 294 IBL CONFERENCE ROOM/ VIRTUAL  
Meeting Times: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 12-1p.m. 

Up Coming Meeting: Introductory Meeting (April 8th, 2026 from 12-1 p.m.)

Agenda

  • Welcome, introductions, and networking
  • Overview of the Southern Griot Graduate Group
  • Discussion of future meeting goals and programming
  • Review of proposed meeting schedule and activities
  • Election of leadership team members:
    • President
    • Vice President
    • Secretary
    • Treasurer