Florida Studies Special Events

The Florida Studies Program hosts a number of special events throughout the year.  From guest lectures to poetry nights, there is always something to look forward to.  Our past events include speakers such as professors and authors, as well as book signings.  Our annual “Night of Florida Poetry” in the Snell-Williams Courtyard is always a warm gathering of students, professors, and friends.

Academic experiences outside the classroom are part of the curriculum in the Florida Studies Program of Distinction.  In this picture, faculty, students, and some family members explore Egmont Key to learn more about its history and role in Florida’s environment.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Annual Bus Tour

Raymond Arsenault Traces Freedom Riders' Road

by Terry Gross In 1961, an integrated group of self-proclaimed "Freedom Riders" challenged segregation by riding together on segregated buses through the Deep South. They demanded unrestricted access to the buses — as well as to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms — but pledged nonviolence. Despite being backed by recent federal rulings declaring it unconstitutional to segregate bus riders, the Freedom Riders met with obstinate resistance, even by hatred and violence — as in Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala, where white supremacists attacked bus depots themselves. Local police often refused to intervene, but still the Freedom Riders kept to their pledge of nonviolence — and their efforts transformed the civil rights movement. Historian Raymond Arsenault documents their journey in Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, detailing how the first Freedom Rides developed, from the personal level to the legal maneuvering involved. His narrative touches on elements from the jails of Alabama to the Kennedy White House. The book is now out in paperback. Arsenault is the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, and co-director of the university's Florida Studies Program. His previous books include Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida and Crucible of Liberty: 200 Years of the Bill of Rights, which he edited.

To read an excerpt from 'Freedom Riders'
by Raymond Arsenault
click here

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To find out more about other USF St. Petersburg events, click on the link below:

USF St. Petersburg Calendar of Events