Mississippi State University School of Architecture Assistant Professor Christopher Hunter, Ph.D., is among speakers participating in the next TEDxUniversityofMississippi.
This year’s resilience-themed event will be held on March 9 at 7 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Center on the University of Mississippi-Oxford Campus. Seats are free but are limited due to COVID-19 restrictions and must be reserved in advance.
In Hunter’s talk, titled “The Architectural Expression of Resiliency of the African American Church House,” he will discuss how the architecture of early black church buildings in America, along with the congregants who founded the church and constructed the buildings, found ways to find balance in the application of resiliency and resistance in surviving and creating events related to the existence of the church. Further, the talk will examine the concept of “black space” and how it provides the quality of value to these early safe spaces.
“An architectural historian, Hunter earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati as well as a Master and Ph.D. of Science in Architecture from Texas A&M University. As an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Mississippi State University, he currently teaches architectural history and various design studios. His research focuses on the socio-cultural influences upon the design and construction of early African American church buildings in the United States (from 1800 to 1920s). Hunter has practiced architecture for over thirty years for several large-scale design firms in Dallas, Texas, and holds a certification as a construction documents technologies (CDT). He has also served on numerous city council appointed boards and commissions including the Dallas Landmark Commission, the City of Frisco Housing Trust Fund Board and the City of Frisco Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee. He now serves as a member of the Mississippi National Register Review Board of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, as well as a commissioner for the City of Starkville Historic Preservation Commission. Hunter is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians, the Southeast Society of Architectural Historians, the Mississippi Heritage Trust, the American Institute of Architects (associate), AIA Mississippi and the Construction Specification Institute (pro).”
Founded in 2015, TEDxUniversityofMississippi is a student-run organization focusing on “ideas worth sharing.” Speakers are invited to share their stories for 8-12 minutes.
For more information about this event, visit at