The Public Broadcasting Service is soliciting applications from college students to recreate the 1961 civil rights bus rides organized by Dr. James Farmer that led to desegregation of transportation in the South. Forty students will be chosen to trace the route of the Freedom Riders from Washington, D.C., to Jackson, Miss., May 6-16, 2011.

“We’ve got a number of really well qualified students and we want to encourage as many as possible to apply,” said Tim O’Donnell, associate professor of communication. Applications are being accepted  at www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/. The ride  also is promoting a documentary film, “Freedom Riders, which will be shown on campus next spring and on PBS on May 16, 2011.