By Lavell Garner

September 18, 2013

Traveling down the blues highway, listening to the sounds of Robert Johnson, enjoying the food the Delta has to offer and seeing all of Memphis and the Mississippi Delta is what one can expect when joining Professor Janice Monti on this informative and adventurous trip.

I had the opportunity to spend five days in the Mississippi Delta with a very adventurous group of people from Dominican this past summer. The group dubbed “The Delta Troopers” included Professor Monti and ethnographer Tad Pierson along with Dominican rising junior Styvesant Peabody and rising seniors Robin Curran , Kamelia Habina, Angelina Herrera, Samantha Leach, Daisy Moreno, and myself.

Over the course of five days, this sociology trip included activities including being guests on the world famous “King Biscuit Time” radio show, following a trail that leads to blues legend Robert Johnson’s gravesite and visiting the place where Emmett Till allegedly whistled at a woman.

“The course is really unusual, and Dominican is one of the only schools in the country that offers such an experience for credit,” Monti said.  “The five-day trip begins in Memphis and then takes students to some of the most economically challenged communities in the entire country in the upper Mississippi Delta.”

This trip is Professor Monti’s favorite course to teach because of all the exciting things that are done on the trip in conjunction with what one learns in class.

“This is hands-down my favorite course to prepare for and teach,” she said. “The trip can be an intense experience. I am always aware of how the Delta affects our students, who are on one hand charmed by the music, food and hospitality of everyone we encounter, but are also dismayed and even shocked by the neglect and poverty we see in the poorest Delta communities.”

Students also had some favorite experiences of their own, including junior Daisy Moreno, a first-time visitor to the region.

“My favorite part of the trip would be the “Po Monkey” [juke joint],” Moreno said. “Everyone was having a good time in this little shack that was ready to break down, but that didn’t matter as people were enjoying themselves. Also the food there was awesome!”

Moreno also highly recommends that all DU students take the course and trip.

“The trip is just a lot of fun,” she added. “Every day was a new experience. We were up early and out late, but I experienced things I wouldn’t have experienced if I didn’t go on the trip. You have to experience first-hand to get the full effect.”

With the Mississippi Delta trip set to happen next summer, Professor Monti is already making arrangements for next year.

“I’m already planning with our ethnographer and road warrior Tad Pierson for the next trip, tentatively scheduled for June 11 through the 15 of 2014,” Monti explained. “I like to mix things up a bit and add a few surprises along the way so that students who heard about what happened from those who participated in previous years will have some new experiences when they take the trip.”

The nights in the sharecropper shacks, outings at the juke joints, respects paid at gravesites, and trips down to the crossroads will still be on the itinerary as well as a few unannounced stops.

Students who are interested in more information about the Delta course should contact Professor Janice Monti for further information.