Faculty couple Bill Ferris and Marcie Cohen Ferris are retiring, but their collective contributions to Southern studies and support for the university they love is far from over.

“The South in Color” completes an informal trilogy that Bill Ferris began with “Give My Poor Heart Ease” and “The Storied South.” The earlier works featured his black-and-white photographs of Southern musicians and writers; this is his first book of color photographs.

Visitors to the new Earl Scruggs Center, nestled in the renovated 1907 courthouse in uptown Shelby, N.C., can immerse themselves in the life of the late banjo player and bluegrass pioneer who grew up in the nearby Flint Hill community.