William R. Ferris ✓

About William R. Ferris

Dr. William Reynolds Ferris Jr., also known as Bill Ferris, is an American folklorist, scholar, author, filmmaker and ethnomusicologist focused on the distinct cultural qualities of the American South. He is a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and, with Judy Peiser, he co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis, Tennessee. He was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and is co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.