Imagine a sociology course in which students document the life of a neglected community--conducting dozens of interviews, sifting through old newspapers and family memorabilia, taking photographs, and then designing and constructing a museum exhibit impressive enough to win a major state award.

Recently, professor of sociology Howard Sacks and his colleague Ric Sheffield led just such a course, "The Community Within," focusing on the small but long-established African-American community in nearby Mount Vernon, Ohio. Students describe the experience as one of the most meaningful things they've ever done, not least because it was welcomed and celebrated by local black families.

An active scholar and enthusiastic musician, Sacks is perhaps best known for his interests in traditional music and American social relations, as reflected in Way Up North in Dixie: A Black Family's Claim to the Confederate Anthem (1993). The book, which Sacks co-wrote with his wife, attracted international attention for its suggestion that the song "Dixie" may have been composed by black musicians in Knox County, Ohio.