The View from Ventress 2022–2023

THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

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VENTRESS

2022-23 ACADEMIC YEAR

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U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S I S S I P P I

FROM THE DEAN

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Lee M. Cohen, PhD

very year when I sit down to write my message for The View from Ventress and have the opportunity to review the stories that will be included, I experience feelings of immense pride and awe. We are a large, complex College, one that includes hundreds of individuals, but the frequency with which our faculty, staff, students, and alumni are nationally or internationally recognized for their contributions and accomplishments is nothing short of amazing. I am also struck by the fact that these individual accomplishments may seem unrelated to a larger mission or purpose and that they simply happen because of the many incredibly talented people we have in, or affiliated with, the College. Without a doubt, having great people is necessary but not sufficient to account for what you will see as you make your way through the pages of this newsletter.

Alvin Toffler, an American writer, futurist, and businessman said, “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” It is for this reason that the College has been working to develop a strategic plan that will help ensure that we continue (and dare I say expand upon) this incredible trajectory. This plan focuses on five main priorities: 1. Strengthen and embrace a cohesive College identity.

4. Advance research, scholarship, and creative activity.

2. Enhance efforts to recruit and retain faculty, staff, and students.

5. Empower people and pursue diversity through promotion of equitable and inclusive practices.

3. Strengthen and promote existing and new academic offerings.

This past academic year, we have also been deliberate in joining in with the rest of the University of Mississippi community in celebrating the 60th anniversary of integration on our campus and acknowledging the vast and lasting positive impact that James Meredith—an alumnus of the College—has had on our university. Vice Chancellor Shawnboda Mead, along with the rest of her team in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, did a remarkable job of hosting and coordinating the numerous events that spanned the academic year. The College was an active and regular contributor to these events, and you will learn more about our engagement in this celebration in the pages ahead.

Moving forward, we will continue to strive to create an environment of learning and discovery where all faculty, staff, and students are supported and can expect respect and a sense of belonging as they pursue their best work.

It has been an outstanding year, and the future is bright. I hope that as you turn the pages of the many stories in this publication you, too, will experience feelings of pride and awe for the many things that are going on in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi.

The View from Ventress was designed by UM Marketing & Communications with College graphic designers Yazmin Goulet (BA art, BS integrated marketing communications 21) and Alexa Tamburlin (BFA art 23). Stories were written

by UM Marketing & Communications, the UM Foundation, and College English major interns Lexi Douglas, Abi Martin (BA English, BBA entrepreneurship 23), and Emily Suh.

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INAUGU RAL COLL EGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

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he College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award highlights students working for change that requires personal courage and resilience while also pursuing a College degree.

Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African American student to enroll at UM, graduated in August 1963 with a BA in political science.

Walking in his footsteps, these students continue the difficult and critical work of change and transformation.

“These extraordinary graduating seniors have made significant positive change in broadening access, participation, and opportunities in higher education for individuals from minoritized or underrepresented groups,” said Lee M. Cohen, dean of liberal arts.

James Meredith

All finalists received the College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award medal.

James Meredith (right) with Bobby Hudson (from left), Jack Meadows, Quay Williams, Dean Cohen, and Logan Thomas.

Faith Deering, Jorge (Andy) Flores, Bobby Hudson III, Reinhard (Matt) Knerr, John (Jack) Meadows, Logan Thomas, Arquvas (Quay) Williams, and Morgan Yhap were selected as finalists, and received the College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award medal.

Williams was revealed as the award winner at the inaugural College of Liberal Arts Awards Ceremony and presented with an additional plaque and monetary prize.

An art major and leader of Students Against Social Injustice, Williams organized protests and education around the removal of UM’s confederate monument—generating majority student body support for its removal, increasing social awareness of racial issues, and making UM a more inclusive space for minority students.

Deering, an international studies major with a focus on Korean studies, was a UM Global Ambassador and Study Abroad mentor who focused on welcoming international students to campus and creating more opportunities for African American students to study abroad.

Flores, a philosophy and public policy leadership major, was president of UM’s First-Generation Student Network and dedicated himself to creating a space where

first-generation students can feel seen, heard, and empowered.

Repertory Theatre, the student-run theatre on campus, worked to make the processes in creating, casting, and producing shows more equitable for people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community.

Hudson, a public policy leadership major, founded UM's Society for Blacks in Political Studies to give Black students and students from underrepresented groups access to opportunities ensuring that they are able to effectively lead in the areas of government, law, policy, or public service they wish to pursue.

“Working with Mr. James and Dr. Judy Meredith to create the award has been an honor and a privilege of a lifetime,” said Kirsten Dellinger, associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Knerr, a biochemistry major, joined Hill Country Roots and created the first student-run tree farm in the state of Mississippi and worked to expand access to environmental education for people of color.

“These finalists are trailblazers and represent the varied and beautiful ways that changemaking can happen.

It is exciting to have this esteemed honor to recognize this work.”

Meadows, a political science major, was acting president of both prelegal organizations on campus. He founded the UM PreLaw Student Ambassadors program to bridge the gap faced by prospective lawyers of disadvantaged or resource constrained backgrounds and those coming from underrepresented groups, including individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Thomas, a biological science major, created the Epilepsy Connection to build a space where students with and without disabilities educate each other and build dynamic relationships with their university and with peers.

Yhap, a theatre arts major and executive director of Ghostlight Award winner Quay Williams (left) and Lee M. Cohen.

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MAKING HISTORY & CHARTING NEW TERRITORY

In commemorating the 60th anniversary of integration at the University of Mississippi, the College of Liberal Arts honored distinguished alumnus James Meredith (BA political science 63)—who in 1962 became the first African American student to enroll—during an inspiring year of programs and events.

Black Legacy Celebration Honors Meredith

EVENTS Moving History Forward

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, US marshals, and national, state, and local government representatives gathered to honor James Meredith and say thank you to the man who moved history forward 60 years ago.

Keynote speaker Ethel Scurlock, an associate professor of English and African American Studies and dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, said she thinks of Meredith’s struggle when she finds herself in hardship and knows the university is working to accomplish his goals. “We all are working; we are making sure that your mission continues.

We cannot repay you for your risk. We can only say thank you, Mr. Meredith. So, we say thank you, from people across the globe who benefited from your courageous stand.”

“Thank you, University of Mississippi, for this occasion,” Meredith said, standing before the crowd “I can assure you, in my opinion, this is the best day I ever lived.”

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A video featuring African Americans who achieved “firsts” at UM included Ethel Scurlock, the first African American to lead the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.

James Meredith with finalists for the first University of Mississippi College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award: Bobby Hudson (from left), Faith Deering, Logan Thomas, Jack Meadows, and Morgan Yhap.

Among Meredith’s honors were scholarships, student awards, the Mississippi Humanitarian Award, commemorative photos and posters, the publication of a book, and an honorary deputization into the US Marshals Service.

The College of Liberal Arts Forum for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity  Advancing through Scholarship fosters discussion of innovative research topics impacting today’s communities.

African American alumni returning to their alma mater for recognition and reflection included speakers Nic Lott (BA political science 01), the first Black president of the Associated Student Body, and Kimbrely Dandridge (BAJ journalism 13), the first Black female ASB president.

• Meredith’s Audacity Then & Now: A College of Liberal Arts Conversation Charles Ross, acting chair and professor of history and African American Studies; Jeff Jackson, chair and professor of sociology and anthropology; and Derrick Harriell, director of African American Studies and the Otillie Schillig Associate Professor of English.

Dr. J. Steven Blake (BA chemistry and zoology 80), a physician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, challenged the audience to support the James H. Meredith Legacy Scholarship he helped establish. “My hope is that through our combined and generous gifts, this scholarship will grow until it matches, even surpasses, the level of the most prestigious scholarships this university offers.”

Norris “EJ” Edney (BA biology 11, PhD education 19), assistant vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, highlighted the Pathways to Equity institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion plan and efforts underway to promote student success. “Mr. Meredith, I’m a product of the many benefits made possible at this university by your sacrifices. My endeavor is to reach back and pull people through the doors you knocked down and propel them down the hallways to success built in memorial to your sacrifice.”

• Shattered Kingdoms: Finding Solace When Life Is Burning Down Your American Dreams Acclaimed poet, Derrick Harriell, director of African American Studies and the Otillie Schillig Associate Professor of English.

• History, Heritage, and the Politics of Memory Work in Mississippi Behind the Big House author Jodi Skipper, associate professor of anthropology and Southern Studies, and Patrick Weems (MA Southern Studies 14), executive director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center.

Campus Walking Tour

History PhD candidate Don Guillory led campus walking tours incorporating UM’s integration history and various buildings on campus. Students, faculty, staff, and community members came together to learn from the guided tour created by UM’s Slavery Research Group.

Black History Month Concert: Celebrating James Meredith & 60 Years of Integration

Featured Tanisha Ward, soprano guest artist; Professor Amanda Johnston, collaborative piano; UM Gospel Choir; UM Men’s Glee; Lafayette-Oxford-University Symphony Orchestra; and Ole Miss African Drum & Dance Ensemble.

Civil Rights in Oxford Town: The Integration of Education

Rhondalyn Peairs (above), a Southern Studies MA student, tour speaker, and founder of Historich educational tourism company, organized bus tours highlighting local desegregation sites.

Coming Full Circle: My Journey Through the University of Mississippi to Many Points Beyond & Back

Dottie Chapman Reed (BA political science 74), UM’s first African American admissions counselor, presented a lecture about her life as a student following integration, her career, and her efforts in oral history preservation.

Edith T. Baine Lecture for Scholars & Writers

Vote with Your Feet: James Meredith, William Kelley, & Henry David Thoreau The Department of English presented Kinohi Nishikawa, associate professor of English and African American Studies at Princeton University.

Networking for Graduate Students

Charles Ross

Charles Ross, professor of history and African American Studies, and Derrick Harriell, director of African American Studies and the Otillie Schillig Associate Professor of English, spoke about integration at UM for a Graduate School and Office of Global Engagement networking lunch.

Forum on Race & Ethnicity

Faculty and graduate students from all disciplines shared and discussed their research on race and ethnicity in both the US and abroad. Cohosted by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

…And Justice for All Program

Hosted by the Department of Music, the Nutt Auditorium performance of a choral work composed by Kyle Pederson and commissioned to celebrate World Peace Day by AVoice4Peace world-wide awareness project.

US Senator Robert F. Kennedy speaks at Tad Smith Coliseum.

You Asked for the Facts: Robert Kennedy at the University of Mississippi Film Screening

In her 2019 award-winning documentary, independent filmmaker Mary Blessey (MA Southern Studies 16, MFA documentary expression 19) explores US Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s 1966 visit to campus to discuss the events of James Meredith’s 1962 integration.

At UM, Kennedy spoke candidly to 6,000 students, faculty, staff, and others in Tad Smith Coliseum about the events four years earlier when he had been the US attorney general and knew about the conversations between then-Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett and the White House.

UM Wind Ensemble Concert: Celebrating 60 Years of Integration Honored James Meredith with a performance of music by African American composers Omar Thomas and Kevin Day, as well as Julie Giroux’s In My Fathers Eyes. Doreen Ketchens, a virtuoso jazz clarinetist, was the musical guest (right).

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African American Literature & the Classics

“Our semester-long display of Michele Valerie Ronnick’s extraordinary exhibition 14 Black Classicists and her talk on campus highlighted the importance of acknowledging and amplifying the voices of African Americans in the history of classics in the US,” said Molly Pasco-Pranger, chair of classics. “The exhibition inspired me to develop a new classics course to explore the ways African American writers and thinking have engaged with Greek and Roman literature and culture over the years.” In her course African American Literature and the Classics students explore the themes of Motherhood, the Hero and Home, and Talking to/Listening to the Dead.

Professor Molly Pasco-Pranger discusses UM’s 14 Black Classicists exhibition with Kristen Randle, a classics student majoring in art with a museum studies minor who helped with the installation in Bryant Hall’s Farrington Gallery.

Travel Course Tied to UM 60th Anniversary of Integration • POL 398: Politics of Inequality Tackling the politics of inequality in the nation’s capital and led by Marvin King, associate professor of political science and African American Studies.

Professor King with students Ashley Miles (left), Hannah Chauvin in Washington, DC.

Ray Mabus (BA English and political science 69), 75th US Secretary of the Navy and former Mississippi governor, was the keynote speaker. Pictured with Shawnboda Mead (right), vice chancellor of diversity and community engagement.

Honoring Diversity Excellence Ceremony At the end of a yearlong commemoration of the 60th anniversary of integration, James Meredith sat in the crowd in the student union at an event recognizing recipients of significant accomplishments.

James Meredith: Breaking the Barrier James Meredith (above left) signs a copy of the illustrated collection of essays commemorating the 60th anniversary of his historic 1962 enrollment—after the Honoring Diversity Excellence ceremony.

Jesse Holland (BA English and journalism 94) (inset), a journalist and professor at George Washington University, credits Meredith in the book’s foreword with paving the way for generations of African American students. Holland also moderated a panel of speakers for James Meredith & the Media: The Legacy of a Riot program.

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Lee M. Cohen, liberal arts dean, presented the inaugural College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award finalists to eight senior students “who strive to walk in his footsteps, continuing the difficult and critical work of change and transformation for Mississippi and for the world.”

STUDENTS

Turning Trials into Triumphs

Jonathan Dabel, an economics and public policy leadership major and Ole Miss Opportunity Scholar born in Boston who spent his childhood in Haiti—his mother’s home country, refuses to accept the status quo.

A series of student stories reflected the characteristics James Meredith embodied six decades ago when he enrolled as UM’s first Black student and based on the themes inscribed on the Civil Rights Monument on campus: perseverance, courage, knowledge, and opportunity.

Some were College of Liberal Arts students.

Searching the Globe for Better Care

Originally from North Carolina, Eboni Eddins, a biology major from Southaven, has firsthand experience with systemwide failings. She is making it her life’s mission to improve health care for minority patients.

“As a child, I spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices and had a medical condition that was ignored for a long time. We should be tackling these issues head-on. It doesn’t have anything to do with policy and training; it’s that doctors aren’t listening to their patients. One way to combat this is to get more minorities in the health care field.”

He has faced challenges and uses them as inspiration while working to attain his degree. An Associated Student Body senator, Congressional Hunger Center and Breakthrough Collaborative intern, and Every Learner Everywhere Network fellow, Dabel hopes to earn a law degree and use it to help others who face hardships while trying to better themselves.

Generations: Black Family Shares Perspectives on UM Experience

When civil rights activist James Meredith integrated the university in 1962, he made it possible for thousands of other Black people to follow him. Generations of Black families have chosen to be a part of the UM for its academic opportunities, affordability, athletics scholarships, and proximity to family. Some have been part of the university long enough to witness the growth of its welcoming environment.

“I am privileged to watch my daughters (Jasmine Minor, an African American Studies alumna, and Janelle Minor, a public policy leadership major) excel in a place that their grandfather was barred from because of the color of his skin,” said Ethel Young Scurlock, dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and associate professor of English and African American Studies, who joined the faculty in 1996.

Building a Legacy Through Research

ALUMNI James H. Meredith Legacy Scholarship Established

Dr. J. Steven Blake (BA chemistry and zoology 80), a gastroenterologist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, created an award to honor the civil rights leader and help new generations of students. As a child in Coahoma County in the 1960s, Blake remembers hearing about Meredith, his courage, and his experiences at UM.

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EXTRA

Janelle (left) and Jasmine Minor with Ethel Scurlock.

First generation college student Cellas Hayes (BA biological science 19, PhD pharmaceutical sciences 22) from Ludlow is the first Black UM student to receive the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award fellowship from the National Institutes of Health—one of the highest honors a doctoral student can receive.

Now a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, Hayes is advancing his training as a neuroscientist to understand the aging brain and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY.

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College of Liberal Arts

ALUMNI AWARDS

Adrian Cartier (left), Dean Cohen, and Christin Gates-Calloway.

Lee M. Cohen (clockwise from lower left), Mike L. Edmonds, Frances Permenter Smith, and James Meredith.

Early Impact Award

Hall of Fame Award

A d r i an Ca rt i e r

M i k e L . E d m o n ds

BA Mathematics 02, PhD Mathematics 06

Speech and Theatre 84; MEd Education 85; PhD Education 90

Cartier is a data scientist, cofounder and chief data officer of Freight Science, Inc., a data and analytics SaaS product for use by the transportation industry.

He has been awarded patents for his innovations in data science.

Edmonds is senior vice president and chief of staff at Colorado College, where he has been since 1991. He served as acting copresident for the 2020–2021 academic year and as the dean of students/vice president for student life from 1991 to 2020.

C h r i s t i n G at e s - C a l l o way

Jam es M e redith

BA Psychology 11

BA Political Science 63

Gates-Calloway is a remote policy analyst with One Voice Mississippi in Jackson. In this role, she supports a team of advocates to promote a data-driven approach to political and civic advocacy through policy research and analysis.

Meredith, after a series of historically noted events, some violent and life ending, registered for courses on October 1, 1962, becoming the first Black student to attend the university. He is the author of numerous publications, including Three Years in Mississippi, which describes his experience integrating UM, and A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America.

Distinguishes performance in early career through advancement in one’s profession, community engagement, and/or civic participation within 20 years of graduation from UM.

Pat r i c k W o o dya r d BA International Studies and Spanish 10

Woodyard founded Nisolo—one of the first fashion brands to exist with a holistic commitment to the planet and people within supply chains. Among other accolades, he is a Top 30 Impact CEO in the US and on Forbes 30 Under 30.

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Recognizes recipients’ achievements in their professional career and their commitment to the College through service, leadership, and giving across a broad spectrum.

F rances P e rm ent e r Smith BA Sociology 74

Permenter Smith held public relations positions in a variety of public and private settings, including planning districts, Lt. Governor’s office, and 31 years in the telecommunications industry as director of external affairs for Comcast before retirement. She cochairs the College of Liberal Arts’ Now & Ever Campaign and serves on the Alumni Advisory Board.

UNDER

40 FORTY In 2023, 15 of the 40 alumni under the age of 40 celebrated for personal, professonal, and philanthropic achievements by the Ole Miss Alumni Association are in the College of Liberal Arts.

“W

ith the program in its second year, the Class of 2023 did not disappoint boasting young alumni with careers in technology, health care, and athletics,” said Sunny Brown, assistant director of alumni affairs who organized the awards. “It was an honor to award this special group and allow our current students to network.”

Honorees are active member of the alumni association who have made a significant impact on their industry or field with civic or professional achievements, aspire to uphold the core values of the UM Creed, earned an undergraduate degree from the university, and demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a lifelong relationship with UM and the alumni association.

T im A b ram BA Public Policy Leadership 14

Director of Policy, Charter School Growth Fund

Aaron Bar r e tt BA Liberal Studies 12

Rehab Pitching Coordinator, Philadelphia Phillies

Shundral Cole BA Political Science 05

M arti n Fishe r

BA Public Policy Leadership 11, MA Education 14, EdD 21

Director of Campus Visit & Orientation Programs, UM

BA Political Science 09

Vice President of Public Affairs, Atmos Energy

S e da r i a G r ay

D r . R ya n P e rkins

Head of Communications for the COO, Google Devices & Services

Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital

BA International Studies 10

Craig Joe

BA Political Science 07 Owner, Tennessee Cobbler Co.

Assistant United States Attorney, US Department of Justice

BA Biochemistry, 08

Chris Presley BA Biological Science 12

Assistant Director, Early Career Development, Invesco

Andre Cott en

Brandon L ewis

Assistant General Counsel, Navy Federal Credit Union

National Institutes of Health F32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Nationwide Children's Hospital

BA Public Policy Leadership 10, JD Law 14

B o b by Morgan

BA Biological Science 09

Brittney Reese BA English 11

Coach, Gulfport High School

K e l ly Wynne F e rg uson

D r . Ryv es Moore

J a k ly n W rigley

Founder and CEO, Kelly Wynne LLC

Orthopedic SurgeonSports Medicine Specialist, Specialty Orthopedic Group

Chief Legal Officer, Singing River Health System

BA Art 09

BA Biochemistry 07, MD Medicine 13

BA Spanish 08, JD Law 11

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MUSIC INDUSTRY ICON RECEIVES

MEDAL FOR

THE ARTS A

Glen Ballard

lumnus Glen Ballard (BA English, journalism, political science 75) of Los Angeles, was honored with the highest award UM gives to recognize excellence in the arts. At a ceremony and concert in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, the university’s Institute for the Arts presented the Medal for the Arts to the songwriter, lyricist, and record producer.

“The spirit of soulful artists is embedded in this award,” Ballard said. “I prefer to think of it as a celebration of the arts from this magical place and not just a recognition of my journey.

“William Faulkner and so many others are linked to this place. I am grateful to be part of this tradition.”

Over his almost 50-year career, Ballard is perhaps best known for cowriting and producing Jagged Little Pill for Alanis Morrissette, which won five Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album and Album of the Year, and was ranked by Rolling Stone as one of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Ballard, a Natchez native, was a 2023 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York, alongside Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, and Sade.

A Love FOR THE ARTS

A

mi Moore Tincher’s interests in life were focused on film and theater, music and art—the areas highlighted by UM’s Institute for the Arts.

Mike Tincher has committed an estate gift of $100,000 to create an endowment in his wife’s name to support the Institute’s work. Besides memorializing his spouse, he hopes his gift will raise awareness for the arts and encourage other individuals to provide support.

10. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

“To me, the next ‘star’ can be from the departments of music, theatre & film, and art & art history. I’ve listened to some of the students perform, and they are incredible. The quality of instruction at Ole Miss is wonderful.

“All the arts areas are so focused on helping students accomplish their goals. I would like to see the achievements of the students and faculty in the arts publicized even more.”

Mike Tincher

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SHINING A LIGHT ON THE

CREATIVE ARTS

L

ights, camera, action! To be or not to be? Maestro!

To highlight creativity in Oxford and Mississippi, the university supports student endeavors in the fine and performing arts through the University of Mississippi Institute for the Arts.

The Institute unifies and highlights three departments in the College—art & art history, music, theatre & film—to create a cohesive program that encourages scholarship and creativity.

“Arts departments usually end up siloed,” said Nancy Maria Balach, Institute director and chair and professor of music.

“Through the Institute, we want to explore how these departments can collaborate to maximize our resources and set us apart from other institutions.”

To advance and improve the study of the arts at the university and to further solidify Oxford’s identity and legacy in the arts, Institute goals include: • Recruiting students • Supporting student and faculty research and creative activity • Providing scholarships for students

• Increasing connections between the arts across the state • Enhancing campus culture through accessible programming

The Exploring the Arts Summer College Program for rising high school junior and seniors was kickstarted in 2021 with a generous gift from Jan and Lawrence Farrington providing full and partial World-renowned pianist Bruce Levingston, scholarships. For the Chancellor’s Honors College Artist-inResidence and holder of the Lester Glenn a month these Fant Chair, at the Dawn of the Arts concert aspiring artists celebrating UM’s Institute for the Arts. study art, film, music, and/or theatre in a university setting, and present a public performance or exhibition at the end.

“What makes the summer arts track different from others is that our program leans more on performance and experiential learning,” Balach stated. “These students are setting themselves up for admission and scholarship opportunities wherever they apply and go.”

In summer 2023, 23 students—19 from Mississippi and one from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mexico—attended.

Balach said that in 2024, there will be increased crossover

Exploring the Arts Summer College 2023

between arts disciplines. In 2026, the Institute plans to produce a Broadway musical integrating all departments with involvement from prospective and current students, faculty, and industry professionals.

The Institute also awards the Medal for the Arts, UM’s highest prize in the arts. Created by Brady Bramlett, associate director of development, and Balach, the medal is presented annually to a key artist, contributor, or patron of the arts connected to the university.

In 2022, the first medal was given in memoriam to the legendary songwriter Jim Weatherly. The 2023 Medal for the Arts recipient is lyricist, songwriter, and record producer Glen Ballard, known for his collaborations with Michael Jackson and Alan Silvestri.

“We have so many talented people,” Balach said, “and we are celebrating and sharing these great accomplishments by Mississippians with the world.

“The excitement and support for the Institute is inspiring and because of the vision, dedication, and commitment of our people, we will be the preeminent center for study and exploration in the arts.”

To support a specific initiative or share an idea, contact Director Nancy Maria Balach at nmbalach@olemiss.edu, music@olemiss.edu.

The Institute for the Arts Academic Board includes Brooke Alexander, Kris Belden-Adams, Josh Brinlee, Stacey Rathert, and Brook White from Art & Art History; Bonita Bunt, Ricky Burkhead, Adrienne Park, and Michael Rowlett from Music; and Michael Barnett, Annalise Caudle, and Rory Ledbetter from Theatre & Film.

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OUTSTANDING

EMERGING YOUNG PHILANTHROPIST

icole Tisdale (BA political science 06, JD law 09), of Washington, DC, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award honoring graduates who have shown exemplary leadership their first 15 years of alumni status in both career and dedication to UM.

M’s most celebrated Olympian Brittney Reese (BA English 11) received the Emerging Young Philanthropist Award from the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy.

YOUNG ALUMNA

N

“I’m honored. I have always prided myself on giving back, and I have been blessed to be able to do so.”

She has 12+ years of civic participation and national security experience at the White House, US Congress, 2020 presidential transition team, Nicole Tisdale and Mississippi Innocence Project.

Tisdale most recenty served as a key senior adviser on the President’s National Security Council and previously on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

In 2019 after a decade on Capitol Hill, she founded Advocacy Blueprint to accelerate policy issues and increase advocacy efforts to create change in communities. To help advance civic education and participation, she wrote and published a book, Right to Petition.

After completing her time in the Biden-Harris administration in 2020, Tisdale returned to Advocacy Blueprints, where she focuses on scaling and building civic participation workshops and national security awareness campaigns related to disinformation and cybersecurity.

U

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When Reese retired after the 2021 Olympics, she did so after a remarkable athletic career. She is among only three American women to compete four times in an Olympic final. With one gold and two silver medals, Reese is one of just three women in Olympic history to earn three medals in the long jump competition.

She created the B. Reese Scholarship for students in the Gulfport School District to attend college and a Brittney Reese Allied Sports Scholarship for students with disabilities.

“I want to be an example for others.

When I retired as an athlete, I felt the best way to give back was to share my time and knowledge with young athletes,” said Reese, who works with girls cross-country and track and field teams at her alma mater, Gulfport High School. “I’m enjoying being a high school coach and helping students reach their full potential on and off the track.”

Brittney Reese

PASSION FOR

DISCOVERY

B

en Cannon (BA Southern Studies 03) enjoys exploring new places, which is quite helpful for his job as a field producer for the Discovery Channel.

Although his circuitous route has led him from ski towns in Germany to lodges in Wyoming and to city life in Brooklyn, his Southern roots come in handy wherever he is in the world.

“I’ve been filming Homestead Rescue for the Discovery Channel,” said Cannon, on location outside Fort Worth, Texas. “Typically, my wheelhouse is the Discovery Channel or Nat Geo, more rugged types of shows, often with individuals or families trying to survive in a place like Alaska, for example.”

Cannon, who was born in Meridian and grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, returned to campus recently for a visit. “I’m very grateful to Southern Studies. When I was in Ted Ownby’s History of Mississippi course, I began to learn about

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Ben Cannon (right) works with a videographer on a Discovery Channel shoot.

Southern Studies and I found an interesting, nurturing program with mostly small class experiences.”

Although he wasn’t sure at first what to do with his degree, Cannon became a newspaper reporter in Wyoming. He later moved to New York and fell into documentary filmmaking.

“So many seeds planted by the Southern Studies program are tools in my skill set now, not least of all my interest in documentary work. Working for Discovery, I feel comfortable interviewing, researching, doing critical and creative thinking, and all the things entailed.”

HISTORIC

LEADER A lumnus Xavier Cole (BA history 92) is the new president of the 111-year-old Loyola University New Orleans.

He serves as the Jesuit institution’s 18th president, the first Black person to lead the school, and the second layperson in the role.

Cole was vice president for student affairs at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before joining Loyola.

“I am committed to strengthening this thriving institution by seeking mission-aligned partnerships, promoting our financial health and stability, and investing in those who work and learn here. There is so much possibility for us to rise to meet the needs of our city, our state, and our region— needs in the business community, education sector, and healthcare fields.

“I see Loyola New Orleans students as a force of nature and the heart of the university—the very reason we do our work

as educators. I can’t wait to learn more about their dreams and how they plan to use their gifts to improve the world.”

Stephen Landry, chair of Loyola’s Board of Trustees, describes Cole as “a uniquely experienced higher education administrator who has dedicated his career to the study and preservation of Jesuit, Catholic institutions in America, and to the service of their students.”

Originally from Biloxi, Cole earned a master’s in history at Miami University in Ohio and a doctorate in higher education management at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied the effectiveness of mission and identity programs at Jesuit universities. He discovered his passion for student affairs as a resident advisor at UM and then as a graduate hall director at Miami.

He has a particular passion to access and engagement initiatives to ensure first-generation students and students of color feel they belong.

BOLSTERING SFA MISSION

L

odge Cast Iron, founded in 1877, is a fifth-generation family-owned cookware company based in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, that is strengthening the mission of the Southern Foodways Alliance with an unrestricted gift of $150,000.

Based at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, SFA works to document, study, and explore the diverse food cultures of the American South.

“Food and cuisine tell stories that are directly related to the development of our country,” said Mike Otterman, CEO and

president of Lodge Cast Iron. “Grandma’s skillet is part of the fabric of the South—there is no one better at collecting and preserving the stories of the South than SFA. Often those stories touch on cornbread or other favorites that are made in a well-seasoned skillet.”

Lodge contributions help fund SFA work sharing oral histories, producing films and podcasts, publishing original writing, sponsoring scholarships, and mentoring students, said Mary Beth Lasseter, SFA interim codirector. “Together, we are elevating the story of the South’s regional food culture.”

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CROFT INSTITUTE

CELEBRATES

25 YEARS

OF EDUCATING

GLOBAL CITIZENS

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he Croft Institute for International Studies hosted a celebration for alumni and students in honor of its 25th anniversary. Croft also held a faculty panel on Global Citizenship in an Age of Migration.

Since the Institute’s inception in 1998, 683 Croft students have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international studies, studied in 51 countries, and learned 16 languages.

Croft students have earned 82 Taylor Medals, UM’s highest academic honor.

“There are few places like the Croft Institute in the US or anywhere,” said Oliver Dinius, executive director. “The Institute offers a student-focused interdisciplinary program with a strong emphasis on language learning. That emphasis is at the heart of Croft’s mission.”

Chase Young, Croft academic counselor, said the Institute was formed at a time when Mississippi was not competing on a global stage. Creating a hub of international studies in the Deep South was both a gamble and an opportunity for the state.

“The world gets more complicated and connected every day.

We’re no longer allowed to exist in our own corner of the world.

Whether we like it or not, we do not have the option of isolation.

Mississippi needs people who understand how to lead in a complicated world—that’s what Croft provides.”

Sederia Gray (BA international studies 10), a communications manager at Google who spoke at the event, said Croft prepared her to work in international positions throughout her career.

“It’s holistic, and the worldview is important,” the Starkville native said. “When I had classes outside the Croft Institute, they were focused on what was going on in Mississippi or domestic issues. Croft opened a world of experiences.”

Gray, who studied in Ecuador and Costa Rica with Spanish as her second language, said her career has often revolved around her ability to make connections with diverse cultures.

“Being a part of the Croft Institute helped us become a part of a world that was connecting. I’ve always had an international component to everything I’ve done.

“At Google, everything is global. We have operations all over the world.

Understanding the importance of culture and how that intersects with politics and society is important.”

Young hopes students learned from Gray and other alumni who returned to campus.

“Our oldest alumni are now in their 40s, and they’ve done amazing things.”

Sederia Gray

INAUGURAL

FREZZO SCHOLAR

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e’keyra Shelton, a senior from Tupelo, received the first Mark V. Frezzo Human Rights and Social Justice Award.

The scholarship award is a tribute to the life of Frezzo, an associate professor of sociology and scholar of human rights and “the right to science,” who died in 2020. Friends and family established the endowment to annually recognize a sociology student who demonstrates a passion for human rights and social justice.

Working with sociologist James Thomas, Shelton conducted research for her Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College thesis to understand the similarities and differences between rhetoric and reactions toward integration in the 1960s and critical race theory of today.

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Te’keyra Shelton (right) and Jeff Jackson, chair of sociology & anthropology

“I see the connection with my research to Professor Frezzo’s passion for helping people achieve the rights they deserve, and I am honored to be chosen as a representative of what he wanted to achieve in the world. Being the scholarship’s first recipient, I have a responsibility to set the standard of what a Frezzo Scholar is to the others who will follow.”

W

hat do Reader’s Digest, the Lincoln Memorial, and the University of Mississippi Jazz Ensemble have in common? They each turned 100 in 2022.

The Jazz Ensemble centennial kicked off with a special fall concert at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

“We had a great time performing New Blood, a piece we commissioned from legendary jazz composer John Clayton to commemorate our centennial,” said Michael Worthy, professor of music and director of the ensemble.

“We also played music from the 1920s as a nod to the music that started this remarkable legacy at Ole Miss.

“Our lineage goes back to the 1890s.

A picture of the ‘orchestra’ appears in the 1897 Ole Miss yearbook. The instrumentation slowly evolves into the instruments that were common in early New Orleans jazz.”

Early on, student groups played dance music such as cakewalks, marches, and rags, all immediate precursors to jazz. The group first appears in the 1922 yearbook identified as the Ole Miss Jazz Orchestra.

This was around the time that Buddy Bolden and the musicians identified as “the pioneers” of jazz were making music in the 1910s. Jelly Roll Morton was active during this same period, as was the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which made the first recording of jazz in 1917. Louis Armstrong rose to prominence and Fletcher Henderson’s band started organizing in sections like we have today in the 1920s.

“I imagine students of the 1920s were just as tuned in to emerging musical

100 YEARS trends as students are today. Jazz was as rebellious, antiestablishment, and dangerous in the 1920s as rock ‘n’ roll and rap were in their beginnings.”

UM’s group adopted The Mississippians Jazz Ensemble name in 1927.

In the late 1960s, Bob Jordan was the first full-time faculty member to lead the band as an official course, said David Willson, director emeritus of bands and professor emeritus of music. Jordan’s successor, John McCauley, started a second jazz band named The Collegians and reintroduced The Mississippians as the premier jazz band in 1975.

of Jazz

In December, a free concert highlighting UM’s 100 years of jazz put the group in front of an audience at the Mississippi Band Directors Association State Band Clinic in the Natchez Convention Center and their most accomplished high school students.

“This is an audience that we definitely wanted to share our story with and gave them a performance to remember,” Worthy said.

Other celebratory centennial gigs were the Township Jazz Festival in Ridgeland organized by UM alumnus and one of the most recognized

“We are certainly one of the first university jazz ensembles. In their first 50 years, The Mississippians performed at social functions, gave concerts, and toured the South.”

—Michael Worthy

professor of music and director of the ensemble

“Tom Lanardo is a professional drummer and composer who wrote a few tunes for the band about 1970,” Willson said. “One called The Dragon was published and did well. I have a score and the original price was $5.”

Oxford native Billy Cole was also in The Mississippians, arranged many tunes for the band, and even composed a few. Kevin Cole of Oxford played in The Mississippians in the 1970s and directed The Collegians Jazz Ensemble for years.

The Ole Miss Jazz Alumni group held annual reunions through the early 2000s.

jazz musicians in the state, Raphael Semmes, along with Oxford’s Double Decker Festival in April, Worthy said.

This summer UM’s jazz band toured Europe with performances at Jazz à Juan in Antibes, France; Jazzaldia in San Sebastian, Spain; and Jazz in Marciac in Marciac, France.

Students in the ensemble say they are proud to continue the group’s tradition and music a century later.

“The most rewarding part of the ensemble is the art of jazz itself,” said Matthew Tidwell, a music major and lead trumpet player. “I enjoy the culture and class of jazz.”

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BOOM IN SOUTHERN STUDIES

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n the fall of 2022, an influx of Southern Studies majors arrived in Barnard Observatory, and this fall sees a similar trend. In fact, there are 70 first-year students enrolled in the program, and all together, there are 200+ Southern Studies majors this school year.

One reason for the piqued interest in Southern Studies is the Academic Common Market program of the Southern Regional Education Board, a tuition-savings program for college students in 15 SREB states who want to pursue degrees not offered by public institutions in their home state. Students can enroll in out-of-state institutions and pay the in-state tuition rates for a select number of degree programs.

“We are delighted by the interest in Southern Studies from both in-state students and students coming from out of state by way of the Academic Common Market,” said Katie McKee, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. “We shifted to a competitive application process for the 2023–24 academic year to adequately serve the needs of individual majors.”

As Southern Studies majors or minors, students can enroll in a wide range of courses from African American Studies, anthropology, art history, economics, English, gender studies, history, journalism, music, political science, rhetoric, and sociology.

Feagin Hardy

Students also engage in documentary fieldwork, producing films, photography, and oral histories.

The interdisciplinary Southern Studies draws individuals with a diverse range of interests who pursue many different fields after graduation—scholarly and in the arts, humanities, social justice, law, the nonprofit world, and business. The Center’s year-round outreach programs also allow students to interact with scholars in those areas.

That is exactly what drew senior Feagin Hardy to the major. “One of the best things about Southern Studies is the program’s interdisciplinary nature and the way it pulls from many academic fields, including literature, history, sociology, and sometimes even ecology, in its close examination of the American South.”

Hardy said it is useful to understand the rest of the country and the world at large, which requires more than one perspective. “My favorite thing is the way this program not only accepts this fact, but also embraces it, and encourages its students to do the same from the very beginning of their time in this major.”

She said there is always something new to learn about the region, even the place a person thinks they know best. “One of the coolest things I learned about in SST 109 [Rights & Southern Activism] with Professor Eubanks—a class chock-full of cool things to learn!—was the labor organizing amongst tenant farmers across the 1930s South, including a sharecroppers’ strike in the part of Alabama my family is from.”

Barnard Observatory became the headquarters of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture in 1979. Begun in 1857 and completed in 1859 during the administration of Chancellor Barnard, the building was designed to house the world’s largest telescope and to provide quarters for the Department of Physics and Astronomy, which was housed in the west wing until 1939. The east wing was the chancellor’s residence until 1971.

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From Laurens, South Carolina, Hardy enjoyed texting her dad with history from class. “It created an interesting project for the two of us to learn a little bit more, so not only am I always learning more about the South, but my family is, too.”

Willie Morris

AWARDS

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he awards celebrate the legacy of Willie Morris, an award-winning author and former UM writer-inresidence, and, by extension, spread appreciation for contemporary Southern literature. In the spirit of the awards’ namesake, winning authors address Southern themes with an air of hope.

The Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction and $12,000 goes to poet, essayist, and novelist Destiny Birdsong.

The winner of the poetry category and $3,000 is Adam Haver—previous editor of a college literary magazine.

After considering hundreds of nominations, the national panel of judges chose winners in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

The Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing, part of the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, are made possible by a generous endowment established by Dave Williams and Reba White Williams.

Beverly Lowry won $12,000 for Deer Creek Drive (Knopf Doubleday) in the new nonfiction category.

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FLAGSHIP SUCCESS

A

university record 16 Language Flagship seniors are abroad honing their language skills after being accepted for the Arabic and Chinese capstone year programs. The capstone is a final year of direct enrollment and study at a university in Morocco or Taiwan, followed by an internship.

The 12 Chinese Language Flagship students and four Arabic Language Flagship students accepted are the most for each language UM has placed to date, said Donald Dyer, associate dean for faculty and academic affairs and distinguished professor of modern languages.

“No other Flagship university had as many students accepted to capstone this year. All students who applied were accepted unconditionally, a remarkable achievement.”

The National Security Education Program’s Language Flagship began in 2002 and supports intensive programs in languages deemed critical for American government, business, and military interests, including Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Russian.

UM is one of 22 universities with Flagship programs and was one of the first to launch a Chinese Language Flagship Program in 2003. In 2018, UM was awarded an Arabic Flagship Program, putting it in elite company as one of only five with multiple Flagships.

“Completing capstone is a stepping stone for the Flagship students going on to careers in government, business, and graduate education, where they will use their high-level linguistic and cultural skills,” Dyer said.

Chinese Language Flagship students in Taiwan this fall are: Cameron Bryan, Chinese major, Calvert City, Kentucky

Sarah Hall, Chinese major, Madison

Bradley Brantley, Chinese and business majors, Jackson

Luke Jacobus, Chinese and international studies majors, Birmingham, Alabama

Christopher “CJ” Buchan, Chinese and international studies majors, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Matthew Lafaver, Chinese and international studies majors, Manchester, Missouri

James “Aubrey” Christian, Chinese and accountancy majors, Gulfport

Brigitte Reed, Chinese and psychology majors, Lacey Springs, Alabama

Garrett Dunne, Chinese and marketing majors, Chicago

Sarah Soh, Chinese and international studies majors, Houston, Texas

Daniel Ferro, Chinese and electrical engineering majors, Rockville Center, New York Arabic Language Flagship students in Morocco are: Dana Arneal, Arabic and psychology majors, Yorba Linda, California Taylor Northcutt, business major and Arabic minor, Decatur, Alabama

Emily Stewart, Arabic and international studies majors, Columbia, Tennessee Renee Summers, Arabic major, Katy, Texas

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Studying THE

BLUES

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ational Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday featured an eight-minute segment on Adam Gussow’s The Blues Tradition in American Literature course at Parchman prison and Patrick Alexander’s award-winning Prison-to-College Pipeline Program.

With Gussow, professor of English and Southern Studies, the inmate students explore themes of blues lyrics expressed in literary forms, listen to blues songs, read poetry, and even get harmonica lessons.

UM’s Prison-to-College Pipeline Program has also offered courses on Shakespeare, Mississippi writers, and the civil rights movement.

Adam Gussow

Alexander, associate professor of English and African American Studies, is cofounder and director of the program offering onsite, humanitiesPatrick Alexander based college-level courses for imprisoned men at Parchman/ Mississippi State Penitentiary and for imprisoned women at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

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It was created as a university-community engagement initiative, promoting higher education in prison in response to high rates of incarceration and the ongoing need for increased access to educational opportunities in the state of Mississippi.

In line with the university’s core value of devoting knowledge and abilities to serve the state and world, the program unites university faculty and administration across disciplines and area institutions in the ethical-intellectual endeavor of teaching at the postsecondary level in the state prison system. Above all, the PTCPP helps students who are imprisoned in the state of Mississippi who have attained a GED (or possess a high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma) to pursue and attain college credit and college degrees.

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STEM S FUNDING FOR THE FUTURE OF

Jake Bennett, assistant professor of high-energy physics, said equipment and materials in TEAL classrooms will help produce “a strengthened university community. In a TEAL classroom, it is loud, sometimes chaotic, and extremely fun.”

Small groups of students sit around circular tables working together on activities or experiments. The instructor is present, and students spend the class actively engaged with the material.

The building will promote interdisciplinary teaching and active learning for biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science. Students will enjoy traditional labs and technology-enabled active learning, or TEAL, labs.

Lee M. Cohen, dean of liberal arts, said to compete with peers, UM needs proper equipment in classrooms and labs.

The purpose of higher education is to build the leaders of tomorrow in current fields as well as prepare students for those that don’t yet exist, he said.

Chen said lab equipment will revolutionize teaching. “New equipment will put us in the forefront of teaching state-ofthe-art technologies and science. Private support will have a game-changing impact, enabling our next generation to lead in frontier areas of biology and medicine.”

“When you think of the advances over the past century in science, innovators with elevated knowledge have improved our lives in many ways. It is thrilling to think about what is to come and to think that some of these new discoveries can begin on our campus.”

DUFF BUILDING NEEDS INCLUDE:

ixue Chen, chair and professor of biology, sees incredible potential in the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation under construction. The 204,000-square-foot building signals UM’s commitment to producing well-prepared graduates for rewarding fields essential to fuel innovation. On schedule to open in 2024, the building needs equipment for classrooms and laboratories.

BIOLOGY $150,000 Liquid-handling robot and genetic system to prepare samples for genetic sequencing and screening $419,000 3D synthetic cadaver, anatomy software, and preserved specimens $216,000 Microscopes to observe detailed cellular structures, native biomolecules, and marker fluorescence proteins

CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY $50,000 Handheld digital datagathering devices $330,000 Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers to determine molecular identity and structure by for scientists and healthcare professionals

PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY

The Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation. The Duff Center will include 50+ TEAL classrooms, traditional labs, and classrooms to accommodate some 2,000 students at a time. The building will be equipped with technology to support a range of teaching methods and interactive learning.

$5,000 Revitalize one class demo $20,000 Mobile planetarium to improve the ability to hold astronomy classes for daytime viewing and a tool for outreach to local schools to stimulate interest in STEM

MAKE A GIFT Caroline Hourin

662.801.3995 cehourin@olemiss.edu

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awar d w i n n i n g

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Each year the College of Liberal Arts recognizes six outstanding scholars with the Graduate Student Achievement Award at Honors Day.

Timur Akishev

PHD SECOND LANGUAGE STUDIES 23 A first-rate scholar, teacher, and role model originally from Kazakhstan, Timur Akishev studies linguistics as applied to the Russian, Kazakh, and English languages, especially the morphology or study of the forms of words that is his specialty. His dissertation is an analysis of adaptation of Anglicisms into Russian and Kazakh.

A founding member of the Graduate Student Committee on Applied Linguistics and the UM Working Papers in Linguistics, two organizations showcasing the presentations and publications of graduate students, his commitment to providing activities and a forum for social and academic discussions shows his vital role for the PhD student body. With his dedication to excellence and superb organizational skills, Timur is a facilitator and mentor for student groups and outreach communities.

Abhishesh Bajracharya PHD BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 24

Abhishesh Bajracharya, who has a biotechnology degree from Purbanchal University in Nepal, excels in plant molecular biology research and contributes significantly to STEM education at UM and broader communities. Working on a project involving Arabidopsis thermosensory growth with Yongjian Qiu, assistant professor of biology, Bajracharya has already published two research papers in Plant Physiology and in Nature Communications describing UM researchers work into examining challenges facing crop productivity caused by global climate change.

Coauthor of a third paper submitted to Manufacturing Letters, he is preparing a manuscript for his exciting discovery of a novel thermal signaling mechanism in the model plant Arabidopsis.

Cal McGehee MA ANTHROPLOGY 23

Cal McGehee (BA anthropology 21) from New Albany wrote a biological anthropology master’s thesis and, to ensure that his knowledge was well-rounded, made every effort to also gain archaeological experience with fieldwork excavating Lyons Bluff near Starkville. He found evidence of a historic Choctaw settlement and helped create a poster for presentation at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference. He intends to prepare a manuscript of his thesis “Assessing the Accuracy of Dental Age Estimation Methods In a Native American Pediatric Sample” and submit it to the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, a top publication in the field.

In the archaeology lab, he worked with artifact collections from past archaeological digs, Batesville Mounds, and Lightline Lake.

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GRADUATE STUDENTS

Anne Vogel PHD PSYCHOLOGY 23

Anne Vogel (MA experimental psychology 20) from Phoenix, Arizona, researches the use of context in prospective memory. Prospective memory is memory for future-based intentions, like remembering to take medication at a certain time, and she is interested in “how we use contextual information, like the environment around us, to provide cues as to when we can carry out these tasks.”

Her impressive publication record includes a book chapter and three peer-reviewed articles appearing in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, and Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. In these publications, she addressed the leading edge of theoretical work and challenged a recently “hot” theoretical explanation in prospective memory.

Brent Westbrook PHD CHEMISTRY 23

A staff scientist for the Open Molecular Software Foundation that builds open-source software and communities in molecular sciences, as a doctoral student Brent Westbrook wrote numerous computational chemistry programs aimed at unifying high-level anharmonic vibrational frequency approaches with a user-friendly format.

As a member of the computational astrochemistry team with Ryan Fortenberry, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Westbrook’s graduate research included using computer models in a study to illustrate that some inorganic molecules could have implications in the formation of planets. He published 19 peer-reviewed articles in physical chemistry journals and mentored undergraduate and high school students.

Jai Williams

MA SOUTHERN STUDIES 23 As a Fullerton Fellow, William Winter Scholar, and Nathalie Dupree Graduate Fellow for the Southern Foodways Alliance focusing on imagery through the lens of ethnography, Jai Williams researched Black foodways and Black land ownership throughout the US South and documented Mississippi’s folklore through photography and film.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, the Washington Post, and Mississippi Folklife have featured her work, while the travel photography of the Dallas, Texas, native has been used by both international and domestic tourism boards for digital and print campaigns.

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CONCERT SINGERS TOUR EUROPE

U

M’s Concert Singers traveled to Europe on a cultural tour to sing in historic cathedrals and experience the sites and culture of the region.

“There aren’t many times where you have the chance to take a trip to Belgium and France—let alone perform in cathedrals and other venues,” said Ontarius Woodland, a choral conducting master’s student from Southaven.

The 10-day trip in May had multiple stops with performances in cathedrals in Antwerp, Bayeaux, and Paris. The singers participated in worship services followed by concerts of sacred repertoire, as well as standalone concerts.

“In addition to singing in historic cathedrals (as old as 1,000 years), the students gained an appreciation for new cultures and foods and toured historic cities and sites, including Mont-Saint-Michel and the Palace of Versailles.

This combination of activities provided the students with a journey that will provide memories for a lifetime,” said Donald Trott, professor of music and director of choral activities.

An auditioned, 50-voice choir that rehearses four days a week and performs a variety of repertoire, the Concert

Concert Singers at Chartres

Singers represent a cross section of majors and all have previous choral experience.

“This choir tours both domestically and internationally, but due to the pandemic, it has been several years,” Trott said.

“The goal is to travel internationally once every four years to allow all singers to experience a similar culturally enriching opportunity at least once during their time in the choir.”

LITERATURE ON LOCATION

I

n March, for the eleventh time, Beth Spencer taught Fantasy Fiction in the UK—after a three-year hiatus because of COVID restrictions.

of the Year. “And that first excursion puts students in touch with a childhood sense of wonder and creativity that has become less accessible in today’s society.”

Focused on the timeless works of British fantasy authors, the course gives students a chance to craft their own creative works throughout the semester. During spring break, they head to Edinburgh and London to visit the haunts associated with JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, JK Rowling, and Neil Gaiman.

The trip includes a five-day stay at 700-year-old Alnwick Castle, home to the Duke of Northumberland; a tour of literary Edinburgh; high tea at the Balmoral Hotel; Magdalen College; and Wolvercote Village. In London, students take a double decker bus tour, visit Mary Shelley’s house, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the British Museum, the British Library, and experience evensong at Westminster Abbey and a bankside walk along the Thames. They also take a side excursion to Oxford for essential Tolkien/Lewis related sites.

“You just watch the light kind of come into them,” said Spencer, a senior lecturer in English and the Mississippi Humanities Council UM Teacher

At each location, Spencer assigns journal entries and writing exercises. “Students get to walk in the steps of these great fantasy authors. Of course, we get back on the bus, and I say, ‘Okay, everybody, get your notebooks out. I want you to write down what you’re thinking about.’”

The result is an expanded point of view, explained Caroline McCutchen, an English major. “Going abroad takes the class to another level. The trip transported us from our own worlds and let us focus on the things that matter in life. As writers, that helps us build a new ONLINE perspective.”

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UNDERGRADUATE CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM LAUNCH

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he Department of English has one of the nation’s premier MFA programs in creative writing. Now a Bachelor of Fine Arts—the first of its kind in the Southeastern Conference—has been added. Students admitted through a competitive entry process will learn to write in multiple genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, and more.

“Many students are eager to learn about the craft and profession of creative writing,” said Caroline Wigginton, chair of English. “Students in the program intend to become professional authors or to work in the editing and publishing industry. In addition, our students will be well-prepared for other creative careers, including video game design, film and television development, marketing, long-form journalism, web content creation, and travel, food, and nature writing, to name a few.”

The program director is Dustin Parsons, senior lecturer of English and author of Exploded View: Essays on Fatherhood, with Diagrams (University of Georgia Press, 2018). He specializes in creative nonfiction, graphic writing and fiction, and digital editing and publishing.

“My short-term goals for the program involve enriching the artistic experience on campus— bringing in successful, published writers, developing our undergraduate magazine, and supporting student readings and publication.”

Parson’s long-term goals include training students to read like writers, making them better at a fading skill—reading comprehension.

“We hope to graduate confident communicators who succeed in a variety of professions. The Dustin Parsons idea of thinking ‘creatively’ is a sought-after skill, and competent writers of content for all disciplines will have little trouble on the job market when they graduate.”

The curriculum is writing- and workshop-intensive, offering students many opportunities to develop their writing in community with other BFA students, Wigginton said.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

FORUM PROVIDES

PRACTICAL BUSINESS A D V I C E

C

oordinated by the UM’s Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement, the eighth annual Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum in Hattiesburg was designed to educate participants on the entrepreneurial climate and the future of entrepreneurship in Mississippi.

“The Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum connects universities and colleges to community and business partners in the state to raise awareness of the various entrepreneurial initiatives underway,” said Albert Nylander, professor of sociology and Institute director.

“This is also a time for university faculty, staff, and students working in the entrepreneurial space to network and share ideas for growing and sustaining economic development within Mississippi.”

The forum is part of the Catalyzing Entrepreneurship and Economic Development initiative, funded through a grant from the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation.

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“Every year of the program features cohorts in creative writing courses in an array of genres. They also learn about a variety of literatures so they can build a portfolio of literary influences and hone their style. Their electives focus on other theories, histories, and practices of artistic expression.”

The program concludes with a major creative writing project, workshopping with peers, and learning how to find an agent, publish, and give public readings.

“A select group of students will receive an incredible opportunity few universities offer,” said Lee M. Cohen, dean of liberal arts. “It further establishes UM as the creative educational hub in the state and region.”

CEED Innovation Scholars and integrated marketing communications majors Jhalen Wells (left) and Kyion White attend the 2022 Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum in Vicksburg.

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Speaker Series

SPOTLIGHTS DIVERSITY INCLUSION IN LEADERSHIP

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hree female leaders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force visited campus to lead a discussion on diversity and inclusion in the armed services: Lt. Gen. Maria R. Gervais, Brig. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, and Rear Adm. Nancy Lacore talked about their experiences and challenges as female leaders.

Part of an ongoing collaborative speaker series, UM’s Army ROTC and the Trent Lott Leadership Institute welcomed three women in power for a panel discussion regarding Diversity and Inclusion in Today’s Dynamic Leadership Environment.

“It’s important to see females in leadership roles because they are the face of our military.”

—Lt. Col. Vincent Jackson

chair of military science

It is important for young women and men to hear about the experiences that led these women to the leadership positions they hold, said Lt. Col. Vincent Jackson, chair of military science.

“These women have been in the military during the time of the first female fighter pilots, many female firsts.

They command respect wherever they go. No matter what room they walk into, you see the stars on their shoulders and you can’t sweep ONLINE EXTRA them under the rug. You have to listen.”

FREEDOM STUDIES

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he new interdisciplinary minor in Freedom Studies allows students to pursue a course of study that deepens their understanding of the meaning of freedom in general and the ways in which liberty plays a role in economics, constitutional law, society, and culture.

“We often use words like ‘freedom,’ ‘liberty,’ and ‘liberation’ without much thought. We also don’t pause to consider why freedom is good, or how we should weigh it against other important values,” said Steven Skultety, chair of philosophy and religion and director of UM’s Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom, who directs the minor.

Steven Skultety

Christian Sellar, professor of public policy leadership, said, “Freedom studies, together with the related reading group, is an opportunity for faculty members to engage with a distinct intellectual tradition, debating issues of freedom in relations to deeper philosophical debates over the nature of human beings, their actions as political animals, and over what constitutes valid knowledge from a variety of disciplinary points of view. The engagement with my colleagues and students in freedom studies has been one of the most rewarding intellectual experiences I’ve had in this university.”

Students select classes in the topic areas of freedom and economics, key issues in constitutional government, theoretical foundations of ordered liberty, and studies in the history of freedom.

“The interdisciplinary Freedom Studies minor allows students the opportunity to investigate the complex role that freedom has played, and continues to play, in economics, political and ethical thought, law, and history,” Skultety said. “My hope is that students from across the political spectrum will sign up for the Freedom Studies minor and enter into the profound debates that surround this foundational idea.”

Freedom studies minors take 18 credit hours of classes with 12 at the 300-level or above.

Lt. Gen. Maria R. Gervais (left), Brig. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser (middle), and Rear Adm. Nancy Lacore

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“The Freedom Studies minor will be a great tool for Ole Miss students to deepen our appreciation for our liberties that are often taken for granted,” said Cass Rutledge, a public policy leadership major from Jackson. “Learning about our freedoms, where they come from, and how to protect them are vital to ensuring that they are still here for the next generation.”

NSF RESEARCH FELLOWS

T

wo graduating seniors—Ethan Lambert of Kossuth and Mary Beth Vanlandingham from Florence— and graduate student Sydney Wicks of Clinton have landed National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

The program provides three years of financial support. Each comes with a $37,000 annual stipend plus a $12,000 cost of education allowance to the graduate school the fellow chooses. Nationwide, only about 15% of applications result in awards each year.

Lambert and Vanlandingham received bachelor’s degrees in chemistry.

ionic salts. It caught her attention while she was selecting undergraduate programs. “Dr. Eden Tanner’s research has the potential to improve a lot of people’s lives.”

Wicks’ doctoral research in social psychology investigates how people are impacted by their relationships with others and their sense of connection. “During undergrad, I studied social support, peer bonding, and close relationships. I’ve extended my research to examine experiences of feeling disconnected and excluded.”

The three participated in UM’s incentive programs that encourage application for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

“My desire to study fundamental processes led me to study under Dr. Nathan Hammer,” said Lambert, who is pursuing a doctorate in chemistry at Florida State University studying processes in materials that can be used for solar power applications. His undergraduate research produced seven papers published in scientific journals and nine citations, a significant number for undergraduate work because citations mean another researcher has quoted from the published paper.

Vanlandingham, a doctoral student in environmental chemistry at Florida International University, worked in Eden Tanner’s lab, which focuses on potential uses for compounds called

WINNING

DEBATE

Sydney Wicks

Mary Beth Vanlandingham

Ethan Lambert

U

M’s Warren Debate Union took first place in the national competition hosted by Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Katherine Broten, a public policy leadership major from Farmington, New Mexico, and Spencer Heitman, an English, philosophy, and public policy leadership major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, finished first overall.

Heitman also won the first-place speaker award, while Broten was the 10th place individual speaker.

“It was a great experience, especially because we got to bring many first-time debaters along,” Broten said. “It was exciting to return to in-person debate after three years of online tournaments.”

The duo received number one rankings in six of the seven rounds spanning topics on the United Nations, nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, monetary policy, European politics, ballot initiatives, and even the TV show Squid Game.

Spencer Heitman (left) and Katherine Broten

“Last year, the team reached several final rounds, but never quite made it to the top of the hill,” said Jacob Justice, assistant professor of speech communication and director of forensics in writing and rhetoric. “We are excited to have won the first in-person tournament we attended this year.”

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BOREN AWARDS

T

he National Security Education Program offered three students coveted David L. Boren Scholarships—Manuel Campbell of Jackson, Sarah Hall of Madison, and Susan Soh of Houston, Texas.

“Boren Awards speak to public service,” said Vivian Ibrahim, director of UM’s Office of National Scholarship Advisement. “These students learn a critical language and marry it with their major while aiming to give back to the US. They have shown a commitment to working for the federal government in the future.”

Recipients come from diverse fields of study and immerse themselves in the cultures of world regions underrepresented in study abroad. Boren Fellows have additional guidelines for self-designed research, internship, and study programs.

Hall and Soh are completing their capstone in the Chinese Flagship program in Taiwan.

“Plenty of times I was asked, ‘What can someone do with a Chinese major?’ and that discouraged me,” said Hall, a

Susan Soh

Chinese major minoring in Korean and global security studies. “As a Boren Scholar, I feel a door has opened and there are more possibilities than I originally thought. I am grateful for the financial help Boren provides and the career opportunities it creates.”

Hall attends the National Chengchi University in Taipei, where she studies Taiwanese politics and interns with a policy-focused nonprofit organization dealing in international education exchange.

“The primary goal my capstone year is to further my professional Chinese and establish a better understanding of political diversities in and relating to Taiwan,” Hall said.

Soh, a double major in Chinese and international studies, also studies at National Chengchi University.

“The first half of the year, I am taking traditional academic classes in Chinese, with the help of tutors,” said Soh, who is minoring in economics. “The second half of the year, I will intern at a business in Taipei to apply my Chinese skills to real-world scenarios.”

Sarah Hall

Manuel Campbell

Campbell planned to use the Boren scholarship to study in Korea, but ultimately decided to pursue an opportunity with the Fulbright US Student Program.

NEWMAN FELLOW

C Caroline Leonard (second from right) from Knoxville, Tennessee, works as the campus lead for the Andrew Goodman Foundation’s effort to increase state voter registration and participation.

26. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

aroline Leonard is spending the year learning how to make large-scale positive change in the world as one of the 2023 cohort of Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellows. An Arabic and international studies major, she is among 154 student leaders chosen from the US and Mexico to participate in virtual and in-person training and networking opportunities during the fellowship.

The national Andrew Goodman Foundation honors and continues the legacy of the late Andrew Goodman who, along with James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan during Freedom Summer 1964 for helping Black Mississippians register to vote.

“It’s important that people know their rights, especially around voting,” Leonard said. “When you know your influence on these things and know that how you vote can impact how your representatives vote in Congress, that is empowering.

“Just knowing your rights means you have some political control of your life and the world around you.”

A coalition of schools striving to advance the public impact of higher education, Campus Compact university presidents recommend students who stand out for their dedication to civic engagement and creating positive change in their community or region.

of HALL

S

ix of the 10 Hall of Fame inductees selected for their outstanding contributions in all aspects of campus life are graduates of the College of Liberal Arts this year.

FAME

PRESTON ANTES (top left),

an economics and public policy leadership major, was an active member of Phi Delta Theta as chaplain, homecoming committee chair, and vice president of philanthropy, raising $80,000+ for the Live Like Lou Foundation. He held leadership positions in Interfraternity Council, The Big Event, and Associated Student Body, and was a Lambda Sigma honoree. “Of my accomplishments, I am most proud of preparing others to lead effectively and with integrity.”

ANDY FLORES (top middle), a philosophy and public

policy leadership major and the state’s first Latino Truman Scholar, was on the Associated Student Body (ASB), Debate Team, and president of the UM First-Generation Student Network. A College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award finalist, he conducted federallevel education advocacy as an UnidosUS fellow for the nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization. “Founding HelpSaveHELP, a movement to defend critical financial aid for working-class students in Mississippi, is my greatest accomplishment.”

A public policy leadership and integrated marketing communications major, KELLY LI (top right), was a Stamps Scholar, Lott Scholar, Diversity Innovator, Dean’s Awardee for Outstanding Service and Scholarship, Leadership and Engagement Ambassador, and member of the ASB, Mortar Board, and Honors College Minority Engagement Council.

“I hope to leave a legacy of inclusivity, possibility, and authenticity for students of color that come behind me.”

A biological sciences major and College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award finalist, LOGAN

THOMAS (left),

was a member of the American Medical Student Association and founder and president of the Epilepsy Connection, a nonprofit organization that is one of its kind on a Mississippi college campus. “I hope my legacy will be marked by support and encouragement so that individuals with disabilities will be able to embrace their true self and reach out to others to help them do the same.”

A public policy leadership and integrated marketing communications major, MARGARET WALKER (middle), was a Lott Scholar, Stamps Scholar, Capstone Medalist for Demographic/Economic Collegiate Research, and Taylor Medalist who studied and performed research in Southeast Asia and Northern Ireland for her Honors College thesis on conflict tourism. “Founding Period@UM is my greatest accomplishment because I developed a student coalition combating gender inequity, distributed over 20,000 menstrual products across campus, and encouraged uncomfortable conversations.”

MORGAN WHITED (right), senior class president, Stamps Scholar, and biochemistry major, was an ambassador, peer mentor, and senator, UM Voting Ambassador, Judicial Council vice chair, Gamma Beta Phi president, Jackson Free Clinic Health Ambassadors programming director, Big Event project leader, Hearts for Homeless UM cofounder, Outstanding Organic Chemistry Student, Writing & Rhetoric JoAnn Edwards Speech Awardee, and Taylor Medalist. “As an Honors ambassador, I strived to convince a student to make what may well be the greatest decision of their life in matriculating at UM.

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F

GOLDWATER SCHOLARS or the second year in a row, three students have been awarded Goldwater Scholarships in a single year.

Christian Boudreaux, a biological science major from Oxford, Noah Garrett, a chemistry and mathematics major from Madison, and Alyssa Stoner, a biological science major from Gulfport, are UM’s 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Goldwater Scholars.

“As a cohort, these students are amazing,” said Vivian Ibrahim, director of UM’s Office of National Scholarship

Christian Boudreaux

Boudreaux is a Stamps Scholar interested in marine biology.

“For me, there is no other biome or scientific topic on Earth that holds as much intrigue as the ocean. The wealth and diversity of life is fascinating and I want to devote my life to better understanding it.”

Advisement. “They are scientists who care passionately about their research. They have all presented their work, so they can make complex scientific data accessible and understandable to the public.”

One of the US’s oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering, the Goldwater identifies and supports exceptional sophomores and juniors who show promise of becoming the nation’s next generation of research leaders.

Turning his passion into action is a priority. “Christian instigated and founded Aqua Culture, an environment conservation student organization,” said Tamar Goulet, professor of biology. “His conservation initiative speaks volumes about how capable he is and his huge potential.”

Boudreaux studied in Ecuador as part of a comparative ecology and conservation program. He will apply to graduate school to study marine biology with the goal of working as a researcher and professor at a higher education institution.

Garrett conducts research under the advisement of Ryan Fortenberry, associate professor of chemistry, in his computational astrochemistry lab. “We’ve had four Goldwater Scholars in a row from our research group,” Fortenberry said. “Noah is a wonderful student and a dedicated researcher.”

moments of my life. It is amazing to win an award that will reflect my years of research experience and hard work in classes, as well as my future aspirations towards research and science.”

Garrett said the Goldwater will help him continue his research and set him up for future scholarships and National Science Foundation grants. “Becoming a Goldwater scholar has been a goal since I joined my research lab, and obtaining such a prestigious award is one of the proudest

He plans to obtain a doctorate in theoretical chemistry while continuing computational research and studying computer science.

Stoner’s interest is molecular biology. “I love researching the processes behind life. I enjoy putting together the different pieces of life and thinking about them on a genetic level.”

Alyssa Stoner

28. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

As a supplemental instruction leader for genetics, she mentors peers in the challenging subject.

In this role, she facilitates study group activities each week to support students in genetics.

Noah Garrett

Stoner works on her thesis, “Upstream Trans-acting Regulators Promoting PIF4 Transcription and Thermomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis,” for the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College under the advisement of Yongjian Qiu, an assistant professor of biology, and plans to conduct research at an academic institution, biotechnology company, or museum.

“The Goldwater will be a great addition to my resume when I apply to a PhD program. I hope it shows that research is something that I want to dedicate my life to. I am committed to it, and I have the capability as well.”

CAPITAL SEMESTER

C

amron Cross learned the ropes of politics in the nation’s capital firsthand as he lived, worked, and studied in Washington, DC, with The Fund for American Studies.

An economics major from Huntsville, Alabama, Cross was selected for the Capital Semester Program with TFAS, an educational nonprofit helping students make connections and learn about government.

He interned with US Representative David Kustoff, R-Tenn., a TFAS alumnus, and took classes at George Mason University. “TFAS gave me the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. It provided a new challenge.

New cultures, new experiences—it is a step out of your comfort zone.”

Zach Barnes, a legislative director in the US House of Representatives and Cross’ mentor for the semester, said students don’t often see the day-to-day lives of politicians.

“As a sophomore economics student, Camron got firsthand insight into how the topics and concepts he’s studied are applied in the policymaking process.

“Congressional offices are relatively small, and interns often have opportunities to assist staff, prepare members of Congress for committee activity, policy meetings, and for votes, in addition to handling important constituent service leading tours, answering phones, and drafting responses to mail.”

Camron Cross

Cross said, “I learned being in DC that politics is a strong component in daily life. Connections are important. I’ll take that into my career after college and utilize my networking skills.”

STAMPS SCHOLARS

T

he Class of 2026 UM cohort of 13 Stamps Scholars— selected for academic excellence, leadership experience, and exceptional character—include these nine from the College: • Amber Amis, an economics major from Clinton •

Layla Ashley, a public policy leadership major from Chicago

•

Olivia Bacon, an English major from Atlanta

•

Ryleigh Johnson, an international studies major from Olive Branch

•

Dymond Mitchell, a sociology major from Prosper, Texas

• Andrew Nichols, a public policy leadership major from Monroe, North Carolina • Jasmine Sanders, a biochemistry major from Prosper, Texas •

Hayden Walker, a public policy leadership and engineering major from Oxford

• Yasmine Ware, an international studies major from Madison

The class brings the number of Stamps Scholars at UM to 58, making the university the second-largest in the program of 31 partner institutions in the US and the United Kingdom.

Front, from left: Mary-del Jansen, Amber Amis, Ryleigh Johnson, second row: Yasmine Ware, Olivia Bacon, Dymond Mitchell, third row: Jasmine Sanders, Layla Ashley, Carolena Graham, McKenzie Cox, fourth row: Ethan Roberts, Hayden Walker, Andrew Nichols.

Each scholarship covers the full cost of attendance plus a $12,000 stipend for enrichment activities such as study abroad, academic conferences, and leadership training.

Georgia native Roe Stamps and his late wife, Penny, launched the Stamps Scholarship in 2006.

Though Penny Stamps died in 2018, her legacy continues through the Stamps Scholars community, which has grown into an international network of 2,600+ scholars and alumni.

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 29.

PURSUING LIFE’S WORK

K

aylee Hillhouse of Pontotoc is a fan of true crime podcasts. She might be a bit of an investigator.

It’s this inquisitive nature that drew her into the field of critical care nursing.

Kaylee Hillhouse checks monitor in a clinical teaching lab at the South Oxford Center.

A recent graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical Center accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program and UM’s BA in allied health studies, she is turning her passions into her life’s work.

“I want interaction with patients, and critical care nursing is one of the most attentive roles in the nursing profession. I want to help figure out what it’s going to take to stabilize the patient, get them weaned off lifesaving machines and medication, and help them get closer to going home.”

The bachelor of allied health studies allowed her to complete classes and apply to a one-year accelerated BSN program.

Hillhouse earned a bachelor’s degree in just three years through courses at Itawamba Community College and UM, and then she began her BSN courses and clinical rotations.

“Finding this pathway to earn my bachelor’s degree was a great way to get my pre-reqs for the nursing program.”

As an intern at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford, she was offered a full-time nursing position in the intensive care unit before graduating with her BSN. She completed her nursing board certification exams and began working full-time as an ICU nurse.

HPAO

S

ovent Taylor, director of UM’s Health Professions Advising Office, said the need for qualified health professionals in Mississippi is one of the primary reasons the allied health studies program was created.

“This degree helps students map their future career as an allied health care professional. It prepares them with a well-rounded curriculum setting them up for success in their careers. ” The variety of allied health professional fields include nursing, dental hygiene, health information, medical lab sciences, medical tech, and radiology. Students can enroll in or transfer in academic credit in a wide variety of core courses and from there complete 30-36 hours of major course requirements such as medical terminology, biomedical ethics, or the sociology of disability, to name a few.

Hillhouse hopes to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist after completing the required two years of experience in critical care.

JOHN LEWIS AWARD

T

he National Association of Secretaries of State named Bobby Hudson III, a public policy leadership major, as the John Lewis Youth Leadership Awardee. The prize pays tribute to the achievements of the late US Representative, a Freedom Rider for civil rights in 1961, by recognizing a gifted, civic-minded young person in each state who demonstrates leadership abilities, has a passion for social justice, and improves the quality of life in their community.

“To be honored with an award celebrating Congressman Lewis is humbling and hopeful. The essence of this confirms my philosophy, that it is now time as young people that we pick up the torch and carry on with the ‘good trouble,’ as the Congressman would say, that the trailblazers before us started. I encourage every young person to be a change agent, and this award is a way to inspire others to become more civic-minded.”

The Gulfport native received the first Diversity Innovator Award from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, founded UM’s Society for Blacks in Political Studies, and helped create the Blacks in Political Studies Summit for Career and Professional Development. Hudson was a finalist for the inaugural College of Liberal Arts James Meredith Changemaker Award.

30. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

Bobby Hudson

TRUMAN

F

SCHOLAR

rom Morocco to Japan, Madeleine Dotson travels the world studying issues related to disaster relief, sustainability, and climate change.

Dotson, an Arabic, economics, and political science major from Daphne, Alabama, is the university’s 18th Truman Scholar.

The Truman Foundation, the nation’s official living memorial to the 33rd US president, awards merit-based scholarships of $30,000 to students planning to pursue careers in government or elsewhere in public service for graduate or professional school.

They receive leadership development and special opportunities for internships and employment with the federal government.

“With the scholarship, I hope to complete a master’s in ecological economics and pursue a PhD in economics,” said Dotson, a Stamps Scholar in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.

“I would love to work for the US Agency for International Development, then eventually the United Nations to be on the front lines of international and economic development, climate change, and disaster response.”

“I traveled the Gulf Coast meeting with neighborhoods and saw firsthand how environmental issues impact my community.”

—Madeleine Dotson

and after that, I was hooked. I wanted to study Arabic long term. I also began to think about opportunities in diplomacy and political science.”

Dotson chose UM because of its Arabic Language Flagship Program, available only at select higher education institutions. She is an Arabic Flagship ambassador.

As a Stamps Scholar, Dotson has a stipend for travel abroad and other educational opportunities. She’s visited Morocco a third time, traveled to Italy to study classics, and to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to study conflict, which helped her land a position with the US Department of State as a social media research intern. She even met with representatives from the UN in Vienna and Geneva.

She grew up on the Gulf Coast and was a Mobile Azalea Trail Maid, or ambassador, for the city.

Recently, she spent a month in Japan learning about manga and anime and how climate change is presented in the mediums.

“That is how I got into environmental issues. I traveled the Gulf Coast meeting with neighborhoods and saw firsthand how environmental issues impact my community.”

“Madeleine is what a well-rounded student looks like,” said Vivian Ibrahim, director of UM’s Office of National Scholarship Advisement.

Attending the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, she interacted with these issues through science. She worked with the Alabama Coastal Foundation on its sea oat restoration project and conducted research on live oak resiliency.

“She is a strong leader, incredibly smart, and a genuinely good human being. She’s focused on creating change and truly cares about social and environmental issues.”

At ASMS, Dotson also solidified her love of studying the Arabic language. Before UM, she was accepted into the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program, receiving two opportunities to study in Morocco.

The immersive experience was lifechanging. “It was intimidating at first because I lived with a host family and knew standard Arabic, but little dialect. It was fascinating,

Dotson participated in the Truman Washington Summer Institute to deepen her understanding of the national policymaking process.

“We are incredibly proud of Madeleine,” Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. “Everything she has accomplished has landed her in an elite group of exceptionally talented students.

She embodies the type of academic and service leader we celebrate at Ole Miss.”

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MAKING

MUSIC

B

etween writing musical pieces for performance and preparing for medical school, Chloe King had her hands full at UM.

A music major in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Collge with minors in biology and chemistry and a 4.0 grade point average, King spent plenty of time in both music and science courses, combining her major with courses necessary for medical school.

“I’ve taken 18 to 20 hours every semester, so I had to be strategic with time management. I enjoy staying busy and am thankful I have been able to continue with music while pursuing my dream of becoming a doctor.”

King explains how she came up with her honors thesis.

“I decided to compose a musical piece in the areas of study I enjoy—music theory, music history, and percussion ensembles. My thesis is an analysis of what I wrote and how it compares to other musical works.

“The Butterfly Effect was intended to be a marimba solo, but with more musical ideas than I could accomplish alone, I expanded it to percussion trio. I stay on the marimba while my two accompanying percussionists play

vibraphone, glockenspiel (bells), and xylophone. The piece starts with the more resonant instruments to create a dreamlike effect, and the xylophone later adds more liveliness to the music.”

This is not the first time King has been a part of such a performance, however, as she details her most impactful experience at UM. “As a music major, I put together a senior recital of nine pieces of repertoire including solo and ensemble pieces. It was a culmination of 11 years of learning the art of percussion, and it was a Chloe King representation of my work as a music major. It was one of my favorite performances because I shared it with many friends and family. I even performed a duet with Bruce Levingston, an internationally acclaimed pianist and the Honors College artist in residence.”

In addition to recitals and performances, King was the first female drum captain for UM’s Pride of the South marching band.

“Young girls choosing their band instruments might be more inclined to choose a male dominated instrument, like percussion, if they see women have taken the path through college.”

King is on track to medical school after graduating, which she did this spring.

“After a gap year working in healthcare and with the worship team at my church, I hope to attend medical school, become a practicing physician, and eventually return to the South to give back to the region that raised me.”

GRADUATE EXCELLENCE

IN TEACHING AWARDS

S

ponsored by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning with support from the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School, and Dr. Johnny W. Lott. The Graduate Teaching Assistant Award and the Johnny W. Lott Graduate Bianca Lewis Instructor Award recipients were recognized for their outstanding achievements at the doctoral hooding ceremony.

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Bianca Lewis

clinical psychology doctoral student Johnny W. Lott Instructor Award Her research interests are in health psychology with additional interest in the intersection of religiosity and health.

Kimberly Kotel

Kimberly Kotel

English doctoral student Graduate Teaching Assistant Award She leads sections of Survey of British Literature before the 1800s where she guides discussion and analysis of assigned texts.

TESTING FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS Larissa Tchamba conducts experiments on microbes collected in the field.

A

ndrielle Larissa Kemajou Tchamba is a biological science doctoral student from Cameroon conducting fieldwork in the great plains, mountain west, and southeastern forest in 50+ locations.

“I work on a National Science Foundation project called AIMS, Aquatic Intermittency Effects on Microbiomes in Streams.”

Professor Colin Jackson describes her contribution to the project. “Larissa is an independent and dedicated researcher who works well with other members of the

AIMS team at our partner institutions. She has taken on a complicated project and made it her own.”

Tchamba investigates the presence of extracellular (secreted) microbial enzymes in varying conditions and locations at different points in time.

“My work focuses on evaluating the effects of alternating drying and rewetting (intermittency) of headwater stream networks on microbial functions. Headwater streams are too often neglected, even though they are the origin of most freshwater ecosystems and can greatly influence downstream water quality,” she said.

“Microbes are the primary mediators of nutrient cycling in all ecosystems. Disruption in water flow affects the microbial chemical processes necessary for their survival and the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems.”

RECRUITING MATHEMATICIANS

A

frican graduate students in mathematics were recruited to the program by Martial Longla, an associate professor who joined the department in 2013 and is from Cameroon himself.

Muia Mathias Nthiani is in the fourth year of his PhD and is from a village called Nzouni in Kenya, and Mous-Abou Hamadou is a new PhD student and is from a region in Cameroon that has suffered attacks from Boko Haram terrorists for years.

Nthiani, who previously attended the University of Kenya in Nairobi, has published papers in the Journal of the Korean Statistical Society and the Statistics and Probability Letters Journal while at UM. “When I remember where I came from, and how precious the opportunity to study at Ole Miss is for me, I put in even more energy to my research.

“I am thankful to Almighty God because my faith has played a key role in my everyday life. I am also thankful to the university and the department for supporting us as graduate students. I’m grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Longla, for his continued guidance and advice, along with the rest of the mathematics faculty and staff—they mean the world to me.

My fellow graduate students and the Ole Miss community make Oxford feel like home and it will always have my heart.”

Earlier, Longla was Mous-Abou Hamadou’s PhD advisor at the University of Maroua.

Professor Martial Longla (from left), Muia Mathias Nthiani, and Mous-Abou Hamadou.

“His successful completion of a research project and publication of a paper encouraged me to recommend him for Ole Miss’ program. Since he came to campus, he has been appreciated by his professors,” Longla said.

“During his first year, we submitted a paper for publication and are working on a third paper in collaboration with his classmate from the University of Maroua. He is very talented, well-prepared to work with statistical software, and I believe he is on the path for a successful career.

“Prior to being recommended to me, he was set to be a high school teacher for the rest of his life in Cameroon for $400 a month. Just last year he was a French speaking Cameroonian, and now he’s giving a talk in Chattanooga in English, tutors students here, and has a promising future ahead.”

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Astrophotograph by Sumeet Kulkarni

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EXTRA

Sumeet Kulkarni

MASS MEDIA FELLOW

S

umeet Kulkarni, a PhD student focused on gravitational wave astrophysics, interned with the Los Angeles Times writing science articles as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Fellow.

“They have a summer fellowship for STEM graduate students interested in science writing for the public. I spent 10 weeks with the Los Angeles Times basically being a reporter for the science desk, and that was an incredible experience.”

Fellows are placed at media organizations nationwide to use their academic training as they research and write headline stories, sharpening their abilities to communicate complex scientific issues to the public.

“I want to get into science communication, and I’ve been trying to find my niche. It’s a broad and developing field—there is no set path.

I got a flavor of hardcore journalism, and I loved my experience because it is much faster than grad school— research is slow as it should be. Being

at the Los Angeles Times allowed me to cover a breadth of topics.

“It was cool to see my stories in print and a couple even made the front page,” said Kulkarni, who is from Pune, India.

Physics department chair Luca Bombelli speaks to the benefits of the mass media fellowship. “It is important for physicists to not only be good at their work, but also to be able to explain what they do to the wider community. This opportunity is a great way to increase those skills.”

CULTIVATING PATHWAYS

E

lijah Mudryk is a clinical psychology doctoral student whose research focuses on intercultural contact and the psychological nuances of religion.

His previous findings on cultural integration have advised the federal leaders of a racial reconciliation program in British Columbia, Canada.

Mudryk, who is from Edmonton, Canada, and Johnson also collaborated on a project using survey and photovoice data to explore peaceful alternatives to human-lion conflict among Tanzanian youth and communities. This experience led him to seek additional cross-cultural research opportunities.

A project aimed at advancing diversity and inclusion, Sense of Community, Purpose, and Participation: Cultivating Pathways for Civic Engagement Among African American Young Adults in Mississippi, with Laura Johnson, professor of psychology, received a UM Achieving Equity Grant. They are assisted by Caitlyn Geraci, another psychology PhD student.

“It’s fascinating to put together an understanding of the personal, cultural, psychological, and developmental factors that all play into positive youth development. I find myself excited to see what work we can put together each day and projecting how this may aid youth and communities across the world—an impact that could be felt months, years, or even decades down the road.”

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Elijah Mudryk

ONLINE

EXTRA

Costume SHOP

THE

A

million-dollar gift from the Nancye Starnes Theatre & Film Fund supports the costume and craft shops plus room for all costuming classes in an 8,500-square-foot area of the South Oxford Campus.

“This amazing new space has made such an incredible and positive impact on the learning opportunities we offer students both in the classroom and while they are engaged in hands-on educational experiences during the production process for each theatrical performance we offer as a department,” said Carey Hanson, professor of costume design in the Department of Theatre & Film.

In the fully outfitted costume shop students learn to produce costumes in an environment similar to a professional setting. In the teaching wing students learn specific costume and makeup skills.

Highlights of the new costume complex include— • Costume technology classes—to learn patterning, draping, and tailoring techniques • Beginning, intermediate, and higher-level sewing classes • A dyeing and wet paint room—to color modify costumes and fabric and use specialty dye techniques • A costume craft room—to build hats, masks, and armor and use costume distressing techniques and the safety spray booth to color clothing and footwear • Wig construction and styling space—to learn techniques used to ventilate custom wig fronts and facial hair • Fitting room—to learn the art of fitting custom costumes on a performer The Department of Theatre & Film has prepared students for jobs on Broadway, theater, television, Cirque du Soleil, American Ballet Theatre, Sante Fe Opera, and the Julliard School.

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ST. AMANTS SUPPORT CLASSICS & STUDY ABROAD

T

wo new endowments stand as perpetual tributes to a beloved grandmother and as testaments to her grandchildren’s UM experiences.

With a $60,000 gift, Gabriella and Marshall St. Amant of Baton Rouge established the Dr. Carmen PosadaPepper and St. Amant Family Classics Endowment and the Dr. Carmen Posada-Pepper and St. Amant Family Croft Endowment.

The endowments memorialize Gabriella St. Amant’s mother who died in June 2022. The gifts also honor the educational experiences shared by the couple’s children: Bella St. Amant (BA international studies and Spanish 20) and Marshall St. Amant (BA classics 23).

Funds from the endowments will support unexpected or ancillary expenses incurred by UM students traveling abroad.

STUDENT FULBRIGHTS

E

ight students have earned Fulbright US Student Program awards, the most in UM history.

The selective program partners undergraduate seniors and graduate students from the US with schools from 140+ nations to promote international study and cross-cultural dialogue.

UM students have garnered 59 Fulbright awards since the program began in 1946, said Vivian Ibrahim, director of UM’s Office of National Scholarship Advisement. “This is the most Fulbrights we’ve ever had, and the students are fantastic.”

Moore received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award to teach in Zambia.

Green and Jordan received Fulbright ETA Awards to teach English in Germany.

Whittemore, who spent last summer interning in Germany as UM’s first student accepted into the German American Exchange program, will return to Germany to continue her research on the history of the First Amendment, hate speech, and genocide with her Fulbright Research Award.

Campbell will travel to South Korea on a Fulbright ETA Award.

Gabriella and Marshall St. Amant (middle) have established two endowments. With them are their children, Marshall (left) and Bella (right).

ONLINE

EXTRA

36. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

“I was at work when I found out, and I jumped out of my chair and ran around telling all the deans and everyone,” he said. “I didn’t sit down for 30 minutes.”

Langlois received a Fulbright ETA Award to teach in Switzerland. She is one of the first students to receive the Switzerland award, which began this year.

Wang has a Fulbright Study Award to attend university in the Netherlands.

The seven recipients from the College this year are: Manuel Campbell, a biochemistry major with a Korean minor from Jackson Edith Marie Green, an international studies major with minors in German and society & health from Oxford Mikayla Jordan (BA German 21, BAED social science education 21, MA German 23) from Hattiesburg Alyssa Langlois, a French and international studies major from New Orleans

Rabria Moore, a political science and journalism major from Durant

Emily Wang, an Arabic, Chinese, and international studies major from Randolph, New Jersey Savannah Whittemore (BA German and international studies 20), a law school student from Grenada

FACULTY FULBRIGHTS

W

hile visiting colleges in Taiwan for a Fulbright International Education Administrator Award, Oliver Dinius learned that he had another Fulbright award.

Dinius’ trip to Taiwan was part of a 2020–21 grant twice delayed because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. The executive director of UM’s Croft Institute for International Studies and an associate professor of history, he received a Fulbright Scholar Award to study development policies in the Amazon region of Brazil.

In Taiwan he visited colleges in the capital city of Taipei, the new hub for UM Chinese-language learning students, and other parts of the island.

“I wanted to see whether programs in Taiwan identified by my Chinese Flagship Program colleagues would be good for Croft.”

Dinius hopes to integrate Taiwan into the Croft Institute’s UM Experiential Learning in Eastern Asia, an internship program funded by the Freeman Foundation giving students a taste of working in eastern Asia for eight weeks.

The Fulbright Scholar Award is a return to Dinius’ favored area of study. The German native has made a career of studying the economy and development of modern Latin America, particularly Brazil.

The award will allow Dinius to live in Belém, Pará, and study how development projects in the Amazon rainforest have fared, their impact on residents, and ramifications for the world’s environment.

“It’s not pure history, even though it’s very much informed by a historian’s

Oliver Dinius (top center), meets with UM students studying in Taiwan. He invited the students to dinner while he visited Taipei on a Fulbright International Education Administrator Award trip.

way of formulating questions. How has development policy shaped the Amazon we see today? What is the Amazon’s role in managing the global climate crisis? How can needs of the local population and responding to a global challenge be reconciled?”

LANGUAGE IMMERSION

M

ichael Metcalf, former executive director of UM’s Croft Institute for International Studies, has made a $200,000 gift to support study abroad experiences for international studies majors. The Professor Emeritus Michael F. Metcalf Study Abroad Scholarship Endowment will provide scholarships to rising junior and senior international studies majors, enabling those with financial need to immerse themselves for a semester or an academic ONLINE EXTRA year in the language they are studying.

Michael Metcalf became executive director of the Croft Institute for International Studies in 1998.

“I was motivated to designate this gift for study abroad because extended time in another country is so important for the acquisition of advanced proficiency in a foreign language, which is an important goal for all international studies majors.”

—Michael Metcalf

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 37.

research awa r ds

FACULTY AWARDS COLL EGE OF LI BER A L A RTS

Sarah Baechle

Assistant Professor of English

t eaching

Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award in the Humanities

awa r ds Elizabeth (Libby) R. Hearn Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education

Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award in the Fine and Performing Arts

Jason Hoeksema

Rebecca Katherine Marchiel

Associate Professor of History

Professor of Biology

Cora Lee Graham Award Recipient

Melinda and Ben Yarbrough, MD, Senior Professor Research Award for the Natural Sciences

Maria José García Otero Croft Instructional Associate Professor of Spanish

Howell Family Outstanding Teacher of the Year

Eden Tanner

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Joseph Wellman Assistant Professor of Psychology

Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award in the Social Sciences

38. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

Rebecca Symula

Instructional Associate Professor of Biology Cora Lee Graham Award Recipient

Beth Spencer Senior Lecturer of English

University of Mississippi Humanities Teacher of the Year

STAFF AWARDS TEAMWORK AWARD

COLL EGE OF LI BER A L A RTS

For a group that showed outstanding teamwork in the College

D e pa r t m e n t o f B i o l o g y STUDENT SUPPORT AWARD For providing outstanding assistance to students

Tyler Flynn

Victoria Barnes Hughes

Coordinator of Advising, Recruitment and Retention

Project Coordinator, Department of Mathematics

NEWCOMER AWARD

Gwen Rogers

For administrative professionals in their positions for three or less years

Operations

Coordinator II

Kim Dunnavant

Lance Sullivan

Operations Coordinator, Department of Psychology

Senior Laboratory Technician

COMMITMENT TO ADMINISTRATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD

Adam Thebeau Laboratory Technician

Candece Stewart

Operations Assistant

For the outstanding staff member of the year in the College

Matt Ward

Operations Manager, Department of Psychology

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 39.

R E S E A R C H & C R E AT I V E AWA R D S

Patrick Alexander

Kris BeldenAdams

LC Dorsey Research Honor Society

U. of Memphis Dorothy Kayser Hohenberg Chair of Excellence in Art History

Associate Professor of English and African American Studies

Associate Professor of Art History

Zaire Love

Pihakis Documentary Filmmaker and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Southern Studies Micheaux Film Festival Outstanding Editing for a Short Documentary & Panavision Award for Outstanding Short

Tom Franklin

Associate Professor of Fiction Writing Alabama Writers Hall of Fame

Kariann Fuqua

Instructional Assistant Professor of Art and Director of Museum Studies MS Arts Commission Visual and Design Artists Fellow

Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Ryan Parsons

Professor of English and Creative Writing

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Southern Studies

Distinguished Research & Creative Achievement Award

Russell Sage Foundation Presidential Grant

The Ohio State University Alumni Medalist Award

James Thomas

Joseph Wellman

Nelson Graburn Book Prize

Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar Fellow

Society of Experimental Social Psychology Fellow

40. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

Associate Professor of Sociology

Assistant Professor of Psychology Society of Experimental Social Psychology Fellow

John Rash

Assistant Professor of Film Production and Southern Studies Fort Smith International Film Festival Best Short Documentary MS Arts Commision Individual Project Grant Punk Flea Market Festival

Jodi Skipper

Associate Professor of Anthropology and Southern Studies

Andrew Hales

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Brooke White Professor of Art

Kala Arts Institute Artist Residency

S e r v i c e Awa r ds

T e ac h i n g Awa r ds

Anne Cafer

Associate Dean for Research, Scholarship, and Graduate Education and Associate Professor of Sociology Lift Every Voice Award

Patrick Alexander Associate Professor of English and African American Studies Donald R. Cole Excellence in Promoting Inclusiveness in Graduate Education Award

Kirsten Dellinger Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Professor of Sociology Sociologists for Women in Society Feminist Activism Award

Carey Bernini Dowling

Instructional Associate Professor of Psychology Wow the Online World Faculty Fellow

Jason Ritchie

Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award

Gray Flora

Director of Grove Scholars Diversity Innovator Award Institutions of Higher Learning Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award

Beth Ann Fennelly

Professor of English Distinguished Professor

Valeria Ross

Program Manager for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Diversity Innovator Award

Jaime Harker

Professor of English and Director of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award

Marc Watkins

Jeffrey Watt

Wow the Online World Faculty Fellow

Distinguished Professor

Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric

Edgar Serrano

Lecturer in Modern Languages Diversity Innovator Award

Veronica Menaldi Assistant Professor of Spanish

Southeastern Medieval Association Award for Teaching Excellence

Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Professor of History

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 41.

Creating Inclusive Science

HOWARD M E D I C A L

Samantha Case, a history major with a museum studies minor and plans for a career in the public history field, and Professor Ajootian at the University Museum.

I N V E S T I G AT I N G

ANCIENT ARTIFACTS

A

ward-winning educator Aileen Ajootian created a new course, Studying Ancient Artifacts, for the museum studies minor—an introduction of museum history, practice, and careers taught by faculty from art and art history, anthropology, classics, history, and Southern Studies in partnership with the University of Mississippi Museum.

“Dr. Ajootian’s students are incredibly fortunate to get hands-on research experience in the David M. Robinson Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University Museum,” said Kariann Fuqua, director of the museum studies minor launched in 2019. “This is a unique learning opportunity to engage with the history of these objects and a behind-the-scenes look into what is required to preserve such an important collection.”

Ajootian and her students meet each week at the museum. They cover basic genres of Greek and some Roman artifacts—Attic vase painting, sculpture, terracotta figurines, ancient coins, lamps, glass, wall painting, and mosaic.

“Students learn the basic bibliography and professional organizations associated with each type of object and would thus know where to look if they had to identify antiquities in a museum,” said Ajootian, professor of classics and art and art history and a former Elizabeth A. Whitehead Visiting Professor at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens who earned her doctorate in classical archaeology from Bryn Mawr and has written extensively on Greek sculpture.

A

I N S T

new grant to understand, promote, and evaluate inclusivity in STEM education has been awarded to the university by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

More than 100 US universities have received six-year grants totaling $60 million as part of HHMI’s Inclusive Excellence 3 Initiative challenging schools with building capacity for inclusion of all students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“A priority for the College of Liberal Arts is access to higher education and success in the classroom for all students. The HHMI (IE3) grant is providing us with the opportunity to work with a network of other institutions to deeply explore what we can do to reward our faculty for teaching excellence and support faculty with the maximum resources to support inclusive teaching in STEM classrooms,” said Kirsten Dellinger, principal investigator and associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Alongside Dellinger, the team includes •

Rebecca Symula, instructional associate professor of biology

•

Susan Pedigo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry

•

Each student choses an object in the museum to study and writes a catalogue entry, as if they are preparing a catalogue of the Greek and Roman antiquities.

EJ Edney, assistant vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion

•

Museum studies minor Rory Randle is an art major with a concentration in sculpture and plans to pursue an MFA.

Sarah Mason, director of the Center for Research Evaluation

• Valeria Ross, program manager for diversity, equity, and inclusion

“Dr. Ajootian guides our research when we need it, but she lets students take the reins on our work. In her Greek Art & Archaeology class, I developed an interest in depictions of Black Africans in antiquity and enrolled in Studying Ancient Artifacts to study the museum’s collection of ancient vases featuring Africans. For my research, I selected a vase depicting a Black man’s face, probably made in South Italy in the 4th century BC, and concluded it was made using a two-part mold, and its function was to hold perfumed oils.

• Tajuana Jackson, project coordinator for research and graduate education

“They learn the chronological system we use for dating Greek and Roman objects and the basic topography of the ancient Mediterranean. We also consider the ethical issues museums and museum professionals face when dealing with antiquities.”

“I felt joy when I found similar vessels and connected their stories. Black people are not often spoken about in the study of ancient Greece, I was glad to take this vessel and share the stories with my classmates.”

4 2. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

•

Gregory Tschumper, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry

•

Sixue Chen, professor and chair of biology

The institutions are divided into seven Learning Community Clusters, with UM part of a cluster to evaluate effective and inclusive teaching.

I T U T E

A W A R D

Mya Woods gets a closer look at the strawberry DNA she extracted in Biology Bootcamp.

Edney, a coPI who coordinates development opportunities, said this work is personal to him.

“I have a STEM degree from the university,” said Edney (BA biology 11, EdD higher education 18). “I’m excited to now have the chance to help professors help students like me—students who are high achieving, but from historically excluded groups.”

Pedigo, a coPI, said that collaboration between biology and chemistry is critical.

“There is a natural marriage between our disciplines that attracts students. Our effort to develop faculty learning groups to promote inclusive teaching practices will benefit students and faculty.”

Symula is a coPI and cochair of a multi-university working group where she helps ensure projects work well together, makes decisions regarding assessment, and oversees budgetary issues. She said that the intent of the grant is to create institutional change.

“STEM education has specific challenges, and the solutions will take ongoing work. Hopefully, we can create a space for our biology and chemistry faculty to talk about how our courses interact with each other, our teaching practices, what is working, and what isn’t. We need to encourage those conversations as a community of people who are trying to help our students.”

GOVERNOR’S ART AWARDS

HUGHES

Ralph Eubanks (left) and Ann Fisher-Wirth

T

he 35th Governor’s Arts Awards ceremony honored Ann FisherWirth, retired English professor, for Excellence in Literature & Poetry, and Ralph Eubanks, Black Power at Ole Miss Faculty Fellow, for Excellence in Literature & Cultural Ambassador.

Eubanks (BA English 78) has extensively covered life and racism in the Deep South and his work is lauded by critics in national publications. The Library of Congress director of publishing between 1995 and 2013, he is the author of four books including A Place Like Mississippi: A Journey Through a Real and Imagined Literary Landscape (Timber Press). He was a fellow for the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation at Harvard University, and the New America Foundation.

“If there is a hope that I have, it is that someone growing up today in my hometown of Mount Olive will be inspired by knowing someone who grew up there was recognized in this way. That young person does not necessarily need to become a writer. Yet, I hope that person will recognize that being from a little town in the heart of the Piney Woods of Mississippi can be a source of inspiration to accomplish whatever it is you want to do in life.

That has certainly been the case for me.”

Fisher-Wirth, who retired this year after 50 years of educating, recently published her seventh book of poetry. She was a senior scholar and educator in Sweden and Switzerland, and gave lectures across the US and in Canada, England, Scotland, and Taiwan. UM Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Mississippi Humanities Council UM Teacher of the Year, and College of Liberal Arts Teacher of the Year, Fisher-Wirth has helped raise generations of poets and scholars, taught at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, and championed social and environmental justice causes for decades.

She said her most important work is the creation and direction of the environmental studies minor. “You have to think about how damaged the environment is and how that’s tied to race and poverty, to opportunity and resources.

“The university let me teach what I am passionate about, the bridge of creative writing and environmental studies.”

Paradise Is Jagged (Terrapin Books) by Ann Fisher-Wirth

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 43.

AI T S

MISSISSIPPI

INVITATIONAL

IN THE CLASSROOM ince the release of ChatGPT in autumn 2022, colleges and universities have been trying to determine how to approach the existence of artificial intelligence, or AI, in classroom settings.

However, the Department of Writing and Rhetoric is ready and eager to utilize AI in the classroom.

Stephen Monroe, chair and associate professor of writing and rhetoric, said that the department has been working with the implementation of AI about a year before ChatGPT was released.

“We’re all about the teaching of language… and have always been tech innovative here. The fact that AI is producing natural language caught our attention.”

Monroe said that their goal is to put students first and to figure out how to ethically and morally utilize these new resources to aid in higher education. “Initially there was a lot of panic and fear amongst educators that these will be tools students use for cheating. We didn’t spend much time on that fear. Our goal is to empower our students to use whatever tools they have at their disposal, but to use them ethically and effectively.”

The department partnered with UM’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to hold a two-day interactive workshop on AI literacy.

Twenty-three faculty members from across the university attended the workshop, and “they’re now really prepared to incorporate AI tools in one way or another in their classes.”

Monroe believes that no matter your position on AI, it is integral to learn how it works and how to use it. “It’s hard to predict the future, but when you’re out there working or teaching, you’ll likely have an advanced version of ChatGPT or Bard alongside you, assisting you as a researcher and a writer. And that doesn’t really matter how old people feel about that, that’s the reality of your future. So we really need to make sure our students ONLINE are prepped for that future.”

EXTRA

44. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

wo university artists’ work was highlighted in the Mississippi Museum of Art biennial Mississippi Invitational exhibition.

Fifteen contemporary artists featured the theme of Gulfs Among Us. Kariann Fuqua, an instructional assistant professor of art who directs UM’s museum studies minor, combines drawing and mark-making with nature photography to create images blurring the line between chaos and control. She created three new art pieces— each 8 feet tall—for the show.

“My work is largely about grief and issues related to climate change.

Through an environmental lens, I research the invisible structures and networks that make biological life function. There is a careful balance required for life in all forms to flourish and thrive. We are at a point in our lives and the state of the natural world where that balance is coming undone. It’s unraveling at a very quick pace.”

Brooke White, a professor of imaging arts, uses photography and film to create illustrations of place, space, and nature. Her piece, Water Breath, is video art showing the rise and fall of tides along different coastlines along the US and Canada. It is also about the rising water levels endangering ecosystems.

The silent work is intended to encourage viewers to look inward at their own rhythm of breathing and how it aligns, or does not align, White said.

“I hope people are lulled into a very quiet space where they’re able to contemplate the water and that natural space. We live in a time when we’re distracted by a plethora of things. I hope this video creates a moment for people to rest and get caught up in the flow of the water.”

Turbulent Maladies by Kariann Fuqua is an 8-foot-tall piece combining drawing, mark-making, and nature photography.

Water Breath by Brooke White is video art showing the rise and fall of tides along different coastlines.

INAUGURAL

JOINT POSITION

relations in diverse, mass-mediated popular music cultures.

Drawing on musical case studies, the undergraduate course examined the evolution of women in popular music and how multimedia expressions of popular music embody and shape gender dynamics.

O

Obianuju Akunna Njoku

bianuju Akunna Njoku, an assistant professor of ethnomusicology and gender studies affiliated with both the Department of Music and the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, is a performer, field researcher, and theorist.

Her research draws on multidisciplinary frameworks to examine music and marginality, and the intersection of music, resistance, and gender politics in cross-cultural encounters.

After joining the faculty last autumn as the first member of the College of Liberal Arts Cluster Hire Initiative, she taught Women, Gender, and Popular Music, an introduction to the relationship between music and gender exploring

Njoku kicked off the Isom Center’s spring SarahTalks series with “Beyond the Subaltern: Sounding Sexual Revolt and the Discourse of Oppression among Muslim Women.” She discussed how the compendium of music performance, sexual innuendos, comical euphemisms, and other performative mechanisms are invoked in the music-making praxis of Muslim women.

“I excavate this discourse through the performance of senwele music—a women’s music form in Ilorin, Nigeria, which is commonly fraught with contestation against a background of its sexually suggestive text.”

She was recently awarded the African Humanities Program Fellowship of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Before joining UM, Njoku was a Mellon Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Music and Musicology/International Library of African Music at Rhodes University in South Africa.

PROFESSOR ADVISES UN

S

usan Allen, associate professor of political science, coauthored Bargaining in the UN Security Council: Setting the Global Agenda. The book examines the factors that influence whether the United Nations Security Council responds to an international peace and security threat.

“There were representatives from 20+ countries. We answered questions, and they told us about their day-to-day issues. It was a valuable exchange of different perspectives.”

“The formal rules of the institution haven’t changed since 1986, yet we’ve seen a lot of differences in the way the council acts since the end of the Cold War. Their actions reflect the international policy environment. It’s about the informal rules and relations between the member nations.”

After the discussion, the pair met the South Korean mission staff.

“They are getting ready to go to the council in 2024 and looking to maximize their influence. They asked us how best to approach these issues.

It was thrilling to know that our advice was practical in that way.”

The text was noticed by some of the world’s top diplomats at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea.

“Some staff at the South Korean mission read the book and were interested. In collaboration with the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, they then reached out and asked if we would be willing to talk about our research and engage in bridging the gap between educators and policymakers.”

Allen and her coauthor traveled to New York City to visit the South Korean mission, where they participated in a panel conversation and spoke about their findings.

Allen’s research interests include international organizations, economic sanctions, and consequences of military coercion.

Susan Allen

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 45.

POLITICAL

CRISIS STUDY

U

nderstanding how elected leaders respond to crisis situations, and how voters judge them for their responses, can provide clues to a nation’s political stability and the accountability of its leaders. That’s the goal of a study headed by researcher Gregory Love, a political science professor and the project’s principal investigator, with support from the National Science Foundation.

“When a country enters into a crisis, we often view it as a unique and rare period of time,” said Love, who is working with colleagues at Georgia State University, Indiana University, and the universities of Connecticut and North Carolina.

“But crises are normal. In the US alone, in the past 20 years, we have seen major security crises, natural disasters, financial crises, and a major public health crisis.

“The project aims to understand when citizens reward or punish their democratically elected leaders for the causes and consequences of different types of crises. This project moves beyond our current public health crisis to

understanding how severe periods of disruption and uncertainty caused by pandemics, natural disasters, violence, or economic crisis affect political support for leaders. We are using machine learning approaches to analyze how leaders communicate with the public during these crises and how the public responds.”

Love has an established record Gregory Love of strong accomplishments in his research, said John Bruce, chair of political science. “This is the next piece of that record. The political crisis study is a major project and reflects well on the accomplishments of Dr. Love while also helping drive the reputation of department around the nation.”

ECONOMIC

LESSONS F R O M T H E PA N D E M I C

A

Reuters article features a paper on researching how markets solve problems

by Joshua Hendrickson, chair and associate professor of economics.

Hendrickson, who is also a senior affiliated scholar for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, says that economists and policymakers would do well to keep an eye on money supply measures in the future.

His paper argues that the quantity theory of money provides a useful framework for forecasting inflation.

ONLINE EXTRAS

Joshua Hendrickson

46. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

Annette Trefzer

Exposing Mississippi

EUDORA WELTY

A

PRIZE

nnette Trefzer, a professor of English who teaches American literature and literary theory, won the Eudora Welty Prize for Exposing Mississippi: Eudora Welty’s Photographic Reflections, her critical study of Welty’s photographs in the context of Depression–era Mississippi (University Press of Mississippi 2022).

Internationally known as a writer, Welty has as well been spotlighted as a talented photographer. The prevalent idea remains that Welty simply took snapshots before she found her true calling as a renowned fiction writer. But who was Welty as a photographer? What did she see? How and why did she photograph? And what did Welty know about modern photography?

In Exposing Mississippi Trefzer explains Welty’s photographic vision and answers these questions by exploring her photographic archive and writings on photography.

NSF GRANT FOR LINGUISTICS

W

hat makes a word a word? A UM professor is seeking to understand more about how language works in the human mind.

“If we know how our language learners typically process sounds, we can understand the source of difficulties in second-language speech perception and potentially help learners by drawing their attention to the way that the target language speakers process those sounds.”

The National Science Foundation awarded Jimin Kahng, an assistant professor of applied linguistics, a $445,000 grant for the study Jimin Kahng Deconstructing Wordlikeness Judgments. The project aims to analyze the variety of factors determining wordlikeness judgments, the process by which individuals determine whether a word could be accepted in their native tongue.

Daniel O’Sullivan, chair of modern languages, calls Kahng a “rising star in her field.”

“This project represents the best of collaborative research among specialists in linguistics. What is particularly exciting is that it will result in an open-access online database and that will help move the field forward.”

As part of the three-year study, Kahng and her team are focusing on two languages with vastly different sound patterns: English and Korean.

She predicts that the study has potential to provide insight for second-language teaching and learning, besides its theoretical implications. “Our findings could show how having different language backgrounds with different grammar influences your speech perception.

Musical ICON

L

ast summer, George Worlasi Kwasi Dor visited his home country of Ghana as a renowned University of Mississippi music professor. He returned as an icon.

The University of Ghana’s School of Performing Arts named Dor an Iconic Composer of Ghanaian Art Music. Additionally, the school declared him a Distinguished Contributor to the Development of Contemporary Ghanaian Music and African Musicology.

The University of Ghana, Salt and Light Ministry, and Ghana National Theatre punctuated Dor’s trip home with a three-hour concert in his honor. Choral Music TV of Ghana broadcast the event globally from the National Theatre via Facebook and YouTube, and the video has since had 5,800 views.

“I am happy my contributions are acknowledged, and my compositions continue to be meaningful to audiences in Ghana and beyond. The event inspires me to do more, and I believe it will motivate others to contribute in a like manner.”

Researchers led by Professor Jimin Kahng will present nonce, or made-up, words to participants, who will decide if they are possible words in their language. An example is ‘abma.’

ONLINE EXTRA

The Ghana National Symphony Orchestra plays a composition by George Dor during ‘An Evening with George Worlasi Kwasi Dor’ televised concert.

Dor’s research and creative activity widen the scope of culture and humanity, said Nancy Maria Balach, chair and professor of music. “Dr. Dor connects the University of Mississippi globally. He has engaged in successful recruitment efforts in Africa and established a key partnership initiative between UM and three African universities. We applaud him for this esteemed and well-deserved honor.”

George Worlasi Kwasi Dor (left) receives a citation from Adwoa Arhine (center), head of the University of Ghana School of Performing Arts Department of Music, and lecturer Benjamin Amakye-Boateng.

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 47.

A L F R E D P. S L O A N

FELLOW L

Leo Stein

eo Stein, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, joins the list of emerging leaders in STEM innovation as a 2023 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.

“It’s an honor to be selected,” said Stein, who is the first UM faculty member to receive the two-year, $75,000 fellowship to advance his research. “The professional recognition means a lot, knowing that other experts in the community think my research is promising, which is hard for folks in other fields to gauge.”

Stein will use his award to support a graduate student on an assistantship, so they can focus on research without the teaching time commitment. The funding will also support travel for the student and Stein to attend conferences to learn from others and to publicize their research.

“I hope this conveys to physicists everywhere the high quality of work being done in our department, and I’m proud to contribute.”

ONLINE EXTRAS

A renowned researcher of astronomy and black holes, Stein has coauthored articles in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review Letters and received a Faculty Early Career Development Program Award from the National Science Foundation.

“Gravitational wave astrophysics is one of the research areas in which our department is especially strong,” said Luca Bombelli, department chair. “Because of the presence of Dr. Stein, together with other faculty, postdocs, and graduate students, we have one of the leading groups in the country.”

ORIGIN OF HEART DEFECTS

A

university biologist is asking big questions about the development of the human heart, and a National Institutes of Health grant may help him find the answers.

“When I think about life’s big picture, one of the great mysteries is how we go from a single cell to a whole human being,” said Joshua Bloomekatz, an assistant professor of biology. “Our research looks at how the heart develops—how embryos go from a group of amorphous cells to having a pumping, beating heart.”

The study investigates how cardiac cells rearrange themselves to form structures of the heart, specifically the heart tube. To answer this question, Bloomekatz and his team of students are using a high-resolution microscope to observe zebrafish embryos. Surprisingly, this freshwater fish’s heart has similar processes to human hearts.

“The cool thing about the zebrafish embryo is that development happens outside of the maternal body. We can film the development in real time as the cells move.”

The NIH awarded Bloomekatz $411,969 to conduct a study that could help scientists understand why congenital heart defects occur. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CHDs affect about 40,000 births per year. This is caused by defects in the heart’s development, Bloomekatz said.

“This is fundamental biology in the sense that if we learn how things normally happen—how cells form and how cell movement happens—we can take this knowledge and use it when things go wrong.

48. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

Joshua Bloomekatz (left) and doctoral student Rabina Shrestha examine a tank of zebrafish.

Transformative CHEMISTRY

S

aumen Chakraborty is an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry with major research awards from the National Institutes of Health and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities and an exemplary record of impressive publications describing his work.

“The Chakraborty group of both undergraduate and graduate students does significant research that lies at the interface between biochemistry and inorganic chemistry and focuses on exploring the role of metals in biology,” a colleague said.

“But beyond the science, Dr. Chakraborty’s primary motivation is to help students achieve academic excellence and professional growth.”

Recipient of the College’s Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar prize in 2022 for achievements in research, Chakraborty joined the faculty in 2016 from the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he was a postdoctoral researcher.

“Life on Earth is critically dependent on metal ions,” he said. “Good metals are necessary for survival as they help us breathe and produce energy for daily functions. However, to make this happen, metal ions must be associated with biomolecules such as proteins that impart unique properties and functions. Naturally, any imbalance in the function of metal ions can lead to severe health complications.

intellectual research professionals who pursue their careers in an academic or pharmaceutical setting.

Katy Howie, a doctoral student from Grand Blanc, Michigan, with a masters from the University of Tennessee Health Center, studies metal binding proteins for green energy production and cancer treatment research with Chakraborty.

“I am working with a multimetal binding protein for hydrogen production for a source of hydrogen gas as an energy source as well as a heme binding protein that assists in cancer cells’ ability to evade the immune system.”

Undergraduate students learn basic biochemical skills in his laboratory; most perform research as part of their Honors thesis requirements.

“The technology that Dr. Chakraborty’s lab pursues has the promise of reducing our dependence on carbon-based fuels and decreasing atmospheric CO2 levels,” a colleague noted. “In his short career here, Dr. Chakraborty has laid the foundation for a world class, transformative research program in metalloprotein catalyst design for environmental and industrial applications.”

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“The laboratory utilizes protein design to explore the role of metal ions in biology to create ‘artificial’ systems capable of alternative energy production (e.g., green hydrogen) and enabling chemical reactions that can produce value-added chemicals such as drug scaffolds.”

Graduate students in his lab acquire technical aspects of this interdisciplinary field and become independent and

Saumen Chakraborty

MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE

P

hysicist Jake Bennett studies a group of fleeting subatomic particles in hopes of advancing understanding of the fundamental building blocks that make up matter in the universe, and he is part of a team that has precisely measured the lifespan of one such particle.

Jake Bennett

The assistant professor is part of an international group studying charmed baryons, which are similar to

protons and neutrons, but contain heavy second-generation quarks not seen in typical matter. These particles, referred to as Λc+, can only exist in high-energy environments such as the universe right after the big bang or in particle accelerators, and they decay, or break down into smaller particles, within fractions of a second.

Physical Review Letters published Bennett’s most recent results, “Measurement of the Λc+ Lifetime,” on February 21.

“The Physical Review is the main physics journal in this country, and having a paper published there increases the visibility and the prominence of our department in the scientific community,” said Luca Bombelli, chair of physics and astronomy. “Dr. Bennett and the rest of the High Energy Group are active in continuing our tradition of excellence in high energy physics.”

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T

EARLY WARNING

ornado season in the South means increased anxiety, hours of televised storm coverage, and watching the skies. Unfortunately, it can also lead to “warning fatigue.”

Researchers at UM’s National Center for Physical Acoustics are working to combat this issue by developing an early warning system to detect and track tornadoes using infrasound, low-frequency sound waves that humans cannot hear.

“It’s not unreasonable that we could localize a tornado to half a football field,” said Roger Waxler, NCPA principal scientist and research associate professor of physics and astronomy. “I envision seeing a map on an app with a dot that shows there’s a tornado coming up South Lamar Avenue.

“That’s the goal, and a huge improvement over what we currently have.”

A $2 million award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has enabled the scientists to begin a new phase of the tornado tracking project, which spans 10+ years of research. The group, led by Waxler, will deploy permanent arrays of high-tech sensors in south Mississippi that can detect the characteristic sound that tornadoes emit.

When one of these acoustic signals hits an array, the team will be able to verify the tornado in real-time and project its path. This will allow them to analyze the data and start developing a track. Infrasound can be detected at very long ranges, making it a useful tool for monitoring and tracking.

POLI T ICA L SCI ENCE PROFESSOR N E TWORKS

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

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he Mississippi Inclusive Economies conferences wrapped up on the Gulf Coast in June, concluding a series held within the state during the past academic year. The events were produced by Marvin King, an associate professor of political science and African American Studies.

“This has not been the university going into a location and lecturing about best practices or our research. This is ‘You tell us what works and what doesn’t work, and let’s figure out what resources and networks can help you reach your goals.’”

Resilient Economies in Mississippi provided professional development and networking for nongovernmental organizations and others with a social mission at UM, Jackson State University, Meridian Community College, Delta State University, and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Jamiko Deleveaux, a senior research associate and interim director of UM’s Center for Populations Studies who spoke at four of the conferences, said, “Nonprofits across the state are providing extraordinary services and programs to Mississippi communities. The Inclusive Economies Roadshow brought various stakeholders together to share available resources for increasing capacity building and networking between nonprofits and university researchers which assists in creating more vibrant Mississippi communities.”

The results have been productive, according to King.

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“There is a lot of positive energy created when you put hardworking, smart people together in the same room and let them learn from each other. Everyone talks and participates. The biggest takeaway and benefit is relationship building and finding common ground.”

The conference series was supported by two external grants—$10,000 from the Skoll Foundation to champion the work of social innovators along with $5,000 from Higher Purpose Co. to build community wealth within Mississippi for people of color by supporting ownership of financial, cultural, and political power.

Marvin King at the two-day Oxford kick-off event.

TOP T

MATHEMATICIAN

he mathematics behind prime numbers, which have been studied since the time of the ancient Greeks and which form the foundation of secure data transfer in computer science, is dictated by a highly complex set of objects called L-functions.

Rizwanur Khan

Yet the academic world’s understanding of these functions and their utility is still growing, despite being the subject of numerous studies since they were discovered about 200 years ago.

Rizwanur Khan, assistant professor of mathematics, plans to further this study over the next five years using a $400,000 National Science Foundation CAREER grant. He is first professor in the Department of Mathematics to be chosen for an NSF CAREER mathematics grant.

A graduate student in the UM Center for Mathematics and Science Education instructs Rebel Upward Bound Institute students.

“A lot of bright students who thought that they couldn’t do it kept practicing and learned they could. I didn’t realize how fun that aspect of teaching would be.”

One of the NSF’s most prestigious awards, the grant supports early-career faculty who can be role models in education and research and further the mission of the department with whom they work.

“The project is focused on the research of ‘L-functions,’ which encode information about some of the most mysterious objects in number theory,” said Khan, who joined the department in 2018. “The general goal for any researcher is simply to do interesting research, and I believe that this grant support will enable me to do exactly that.”

L-functions are special mathematical functions with several symmetries that encode information about objects in number theory, such as prime numbers and waves, Khan said. Mathematicians try to decode and extract this information by studying L-functions and their properties.

—Matthew Zediker Earth by following UM’s Walk of Champions and measuring the height of campus buildings using the same mathematics that ancient Egyptians used to measure the pyramids.

“The neat thing about this award is that it allows one of the best mathematicians in the world to interact with and inspire Mississippi young adults,” said Talmage James Reid, department chair.

RUBI students became comfortable working with and asking questions about complex problems, said Matthew Zediker, a graduate student from Oxford who assisted Khan last summer. “It’s important to introduce these opportunities to everyone. The value in it is showing them that some things that seem impossible or inaccessible aren’t.”

“The goal of my research is to make progress on our understanding of L-functions. This in turn can have applications to our understanding of prime numbers and waves.”

Reid describes Khan as a supportive professor and “a well-rounded faculty member willing to work on the hardest problems in mathematics while focusing on his undergraduate and graduate students and providing essential outreach to the K-12 community.”

A part of the grant helps continue the Rebel Upward Bound Institute summer youth education program for high school students in Calhoun and Yalobusha counties. Through the program, which Khan organizes, students learn to tackle complex problems, such as calculating the circumference of the

CAREER grants in mathematics are difficult to acquire, as the field is one of the oldest and most studied in academia, Reid said. “It’s an area of research that is central in mathematics today. The NSF CAREER grant puts him in the company of the top mathematicians in the world.”

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DOUBLE DOCUMENTARY FELLOWSHIP

Melanie Ho interviews the Rev. William Kearney for The Movement Starts Here feature documentary she codirected with John Rash, assistant professor of film production and Southern Studies, tracing the birth of the environmental justice movement.

Photo by John Rash

M

elanie Ho, a producer-director and adjunct assistant professor for UM’s Southern Documentary Project, is a NeXtDoc Fellow as well as an inaugural Documentary Development Initiative Fellow with the Gotham Film & Media Institute and HBO Documentary Films.

“NeXtDoc builds a community for documentary filmmakers to learn and grow together while sharing resources for us

to challenge current institutions of documentary,” said Ho, a Vietnamese American filmmaker and writer from Florida who has worked with SouthDocs since 2021.

Besides one-on-one mentoring, NeXtDoc filmmakers receive a $50,000 grant for research and creative development on new documentary projects, with the opportunity to receive additional funding.

International COLLABORATION

U

ndergraduates in Professor Christian Sellar’s Public Policies of the European Union course partnered with students of his colleague Silvia Grandi at the University of Bologna in Italy to simulate creating proposals for a grant.

“We listened to a lecture from both professors and worked on a joint Christian Sellar project with students in Italy over Zoom to create a policy proposal,” said Kinsey Carlson, a public policy leadership major from Plano, Texas. “It was an exciting collaboration.”

The experience drafting a grant proposal requesting funds to the European Union’s ‘INTERREG’ program for projects on territorial cooperation provides “both substantive

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knowledge from a top expert and internationalization exposure at no cost,” said Sellar, a native of Italy who primarily teaches economic and political geography and international policy courses at UM. Grandi, director of Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development and a member of various national and European committees, manages international projects including grants for the INTERREG program.

“Dr. Sellar’s class gave us the unique experience to simulate actual policy making and to work with students in Italy from the regions we were learning about,” said Joseph Jiles, a public policy major from Jackson.

Weixing Chen, chair of public policy leadership, praises the project. “One way to emphasize the global nature of policymaking for PPL students is to connect and create opportunities for them to interact with universities abroad. I applaud Dr. Sellar for engaging students in his international policy class in such an innovative way.”

Jane Goodall's ROOTS ROOTS & &

SHOOTS SHOOTS

A

n expert on positive youth development, psychology professor Laura Johnson is partnering with the Jane Goodall Institute to affect change among young people in Africa.

Johnson coauthored a $1.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for the Roots & Shoots youth program of the Goodall Institute.

Laura Johnson (center) has a long history of working with the Jane Goodall Institute, where she has participated in projects that use photography and community mapping to raise awareness and spur community action.

Photo courtesy Cady Herring.

“Our results will have sweeping implications for the future of peaceful and sustainable communities in the region and in the world, especially given Africa’s increasing visibility and role on the global stage,” Johnson said.

“How to best equip young people in Africa for effective pro-environmental and civic engagement is a question of scholarly and practical concern.”

The three-year grant aims to foster the development of compassion and action in 1 million youth across ONLINE countries in Africa. Roots & Shoots, created in EXTRA 1991 by Jane Goodall, helps promote environmental, social, and civic engagement among young people through service projects that help people, animals, and the environment.

A global program in 60+ countries, Roots & Shoots has 3,100+ groups in African countries that support young people to create positive change through community projects, conservation-related events, and providing scholarships.

Johnson and psychology students will examine the effectiveness of service-learning experiences within the program, and the degree to which participants have changed on measurable scales of compassion, self-efficacy, sense of community, connection to nature, gratitude, and other aspects of positive youth development.

Besides the evaluation, the grant will help activate a regional community of practice for Roots & Shoots staff and support program activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Tanzania.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

A

leading international professional organization, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, has named Andrew Hales and Joseph Wellman as fellows.

“I congratulate Dr. Hales and Dr. Wellman on this recognition of the impact of their work on the field and society,” said Rebekah Smith, chair of psychology. “Only a select few researchers are so honored, and this brings important recognition to their research program, the department, and the university.”

“I am excited to engage with this community of experts in social psychological research.”

Wellman studies the stigma, prejudice, and perceptions of bias from the perspective of dominant groups, such as white men, and stigmatized groups, such as ethnic minorities.

His recent work focuses on the implications of zero-sum beliefs for bias among Christians and LGBTQIA+ individuals and between African Americans and Asian Americans for intergroup bias, cooperation, and solidarity.

He recently received a grant to study how individuals respond to claims of sexism, particularly how intersecting identities and in-group-out-group dynamics affect those responses.

Director of the Social Connections and Influence Lab, Hales researches social life and decision-making. He uses experimental methods to examine the causes and consequences of social ostracism and influence.

“Being part of this society offers me the opportunity to bring attention to the work of my PhD students and the work in social psychology at the university.”

Joseph Wellman

Andrew Hales

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NEW LEADERS in the College

ANNE CAFER

N

ationally recognized sociologist Anne M. Cafer is associate dean of research, scholarship, and graduate education.

At the forefront of scholars addressing the concept of community resilience, Cafer brings a track record of innovations in teaching, research, and practice. Her career is distinguished by a deep commitment to working with communities to identify and address complex challenges in the Mississippi Delta and in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries of Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zambia.

DERRICK HARRIELL

A

cclaimed poet and the Otillie Schillig Associate Professor of English and African American Studies Derrick Harriell is director of African American Studies.

“African American Studies is a vital program at any institution, but even more so at ours, given the complicated history,” said Harriell, who directed the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from 2014 to 2022. “I find it rewarding to be a part of challenges that carry deep significance.

Recipient of a prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for her groundbreaking work in the field of community development and UM’s ONLINE EXTRA highest honor recognizing service, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, Cafer directs the Center for Population Studies and codirects the Community First Research Center for Wellbeing & Creative Achievement.

“I feel incredibly honored to serve my colleagues in the College. I support each of our departments and centers in their scholarly work and graduate programming. I’m also excited to explore new pathways and opportunities for research and creative achievement that help us continue to serve our state in innovative ways.”

“Working under the leadership of previous directors Dr. Chuck Ross and Dr. Ethel Scurlock, I want to continue their incredible work. Our ONLINE EXTRA faculty, given the national political and social climate over the past few years, has viewed this moment as a watershed opportunity for our program.

“We need to let people know that we are a strong program with award-winning faculty who are full of energy and ambition, and our students are at the core of all the things that we are passionate about.”

DERRICK T. JONES

A

ccomplished leader Derrick T. Jones is director of the FASTrack: Foundations of Academic Success Track first-year learning community.

mentoring, a living-learning residence hall, cocurricular programs, and enhanced student leadership opportunities.

Jones previously was executive director of Upward Bound at Mississippi Valley State University, which provides low-income, first-generation high school students from the Mississippi Delta with a strict academic curriculum, academic help, and cultural activities to broaden their horizons toward higher education.

“I am both delighted and grateful to serve as director of such an esteemed and established learning community that helps first-year students matriculate, build great character, and feel right at home at the university. I am pleased to work with staff, campus partners, and vested stakeholders in continuing to provide the vast services that encourage and motivate our first-year scholars to succeed and ultimately graduate.”

FASTrack eases students’ transition from high school through linked classes, one-on-one 54. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

ONLINE

EXTRA

Manuel Campbell & friends in Busan, South Korea.

STUDYING KOREA

U

M’s Korean minor is more than a language program, it is a community.

“Our program involves an intense and extensive study of the Korean language and a deep dive into the history and culture of Korea. The latter is bolstered by extracurricular activities in the Korean Club,” said Daniel O’Sullivan, chair of modern languages.

“As South Korea is an important strategic and economic partner and North Korea remains an important international security concern, studying Korean benefits students in any university major who wish to pursue a career in the private or public sector.”

Teresa Lee, an instructional assistant professor of modern languages, said, “We have a lot of students interested in learning Korean.”

In the classroom, Lee mixes language with culture. “I do quite a bit of repetition, especially at the beginning level because this is a language they’ve never spoken or heard before. We do in-class cultural presentations and show relevant cultural clips.”

Faith Deering

Study Abroad Ambassador, I advertised UM’s programs and helped students of color to study in East Asian countries like I did.”

After Korea, she assisted international students immersing themselves into campus life. “As a UM Global Ambassador, I helped Korean students.

If they needed a hand, I was there.”

That work earned Deering recognition as a finalist for the inaugural James Meredith Changemaker Award from the College of Liberal Arts.

The program drew Faith Deering to UM from Somerset, New Jersey.

Biochemistry major Manuel Campbell also enjoyed Manuel Campbell his Korean studies. “It’s a small group, but it’s fun. For most classes I was with the same people, so we became very close. This sense of community helped us persevere as we got to the more difficult, higher-level courses.”

“Looking at colleges, I had three qualifications: an international studies major, a Korean minor, and a KPOP Dance Club.

Campbell studied in South Korea for a semester and will return for a year as a Fulbright Scholar. “I’ll be an English teaching assistant outside of the main city of Seoul, so I’ll experience the countryside and areas I didn’t see during my time in Seoul.

“Ole Miss has them all.”

“My favorite location was Gamcheon Culture Village in the city of Busan, which was once a refugee neighborhood during the Korean War. Now, it is a vibrant place celebrating this rich history and inviting tourists to a plethora of shops and restaurants. I’m a foodie, so I walked around and tried some of the popular snacks such as roasted marshmallow ice cream.”

Deering spent a year in Korea with a Freeman Award for Study in Asia. “As part of my post departure project for the scholarship and as a

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Remote Storytelling

The Department of Theatre & Film’s production Near/ Far—an original work of physical theatre created, Far performed, and recorded remotely—was featured at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space.

“It was produced in the fall of 2020 at the height of our isolation,” said Michael Barnett, department chair. “Conceived and created by the performers and Assistant Professor Lauren Bone Noble, it was streamed live from the homes of the student actors with design elements conceived of by the (mostly) student designers and frequently delivered to the actors’ doorstep so that there was no direct interaction. This marks a new type of storytelling borne out of necessity and it is exciting that it is being recognized.”

Silver & Gold

Jackson Shannon McArthus (left) and Bejamin Patrick Achord

The winners in the 2022 Yevgeny Yevtushenko Poetry Recital Contest are gold medalist Bejamin Patrick Achord, a psychology major, and silver medalist Jackson Shannon McArthur, an international studies major.

Organized by the Central Association of Russian Teachers of America to honor world-renowned poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the contest bestowed diplomas and Yevtushenko’s books of poetry signed by the author as prizes.

Merck Award

Doctoral student Christine Hamadani received a Merck Research Award and presented her research during the American Chemical Society national meeting.

Her work focuses on nanomaterials chemistry and engineering for biological systems. At the conference, she discussed bioengineering lineardendritic block copolymers for next-generation drug delivery in the bloodstream.

As part of the award involves being matched to a Merck scientist in a research area for career mentorship, Hamadani said the prize is invaluable.

“It is one of the largest pioneers in pharmaceutical innovation, so this gives me firsthand insight not only into what it’s like being a scientist in pharma, but also what it’s like working at Merck.”

Astronomy Art

Anaradha Gupta, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, hosted an Astronomy Art Contest + Exhibition in association with the Astronomy Open House in March.

Art was submitted by people of all ages. One winner was selected from each age group and the winning pieces were displayed in Lewis Hall.

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Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Awards

NOEL POLK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Panny Flautt Mayfield (BA English and journalism 57)

LIFE WRITING Berkley Hudson (BA history and journalism 73) O.N. Pruitt’s Possum Town University of North Carolina Press

Undergraduate Research

Water quality issues in Jackson have potentially led to 1,000+ school disruptions each year between 2015 and 2021, according to a recent study in Nature Water coauthored by undergraduate student Clark Etzel, a public policy leadership major from Russellville, Arkansas, who was a research assistant with UM’s National Sea Grant Law Center.

The study investigates the correlation between boil water notices and school attendance records in the Jackson Public School District.

“It was intimidating at first, but after starting on the project, it was empowering to know that I had the skills and insight to contribute,” Etzel said. “I learned a lot about researching and how not just to meet deliverables, but to look deeper for myself.”

POETRY Melissa Ginsburg, associate professor of creative writing and literature Doll Apollo LSU Press

VISUAL ARTS Coulter Fussell (BFA art 00) My Love for You Is Deathless

Celebrating Literacy

Daryleshia Ward, coordinator of community literacy for the Department of Writing & Rhetoric, organized a literacy event in Sardis in partnership with the Sardis Public Library and First Regional Libraries.

“More than 70 people enjoyed the festivities. Hearty thanks and congratulations to Daryleshia for making it all happen,” said Stephen Monroe, chair of writing and rhetoric. “It was a big success.”

Rural Partner Summit UM’s Center for Population Studies cohosted a statewide rural partner summit for 75+ collaborators to address challenges across Mississippi. The Cleveland event was part of UM’s leadership of the Tri-County North Delta Network under the US Department of Agriculture’s new Rural Partners Network initiative.

The rural network is an alliance of federal agencies and commissions working directly with rural communities to expand prosperity through job creation, infrastructure development, and community improvement.

The meeting gathered state, federal, and community partners to think through local challenges and opportunities related to transportation, infrastructure, broadband, and workforce development.

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Public Service

Alumnus Nick Judin (BA English 12) was recognized at the Diamond Journalism Awards for reporting published by the Mississippi Free Press. He received the Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder Award for Public Service Journalism for “What the Jackson Water Crisis Exposed,” an exploration of the historical and human perspective of the Mississippi capital city’s failed water system in 2021.

Judin received attention from national news outlets for his coverage and was named a national health fellow at the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalism to research housing inequity and evictions.

“The point of journalism is impact. The history of Jackson, with all its complexities and what that means for today and the future, must be understood.”

Scientific Collaboration

Quinn Campagna (MS physics 22), a physics doctoral student, won an Ozaki Exchange Program award to pursue research abroad with Belle II, a global collaboration of physicists and engineers dedicated to studying subatomic particles and their interactions. Belle II uses an electronpositron collider at the SuperKEKB facility in Tsukuba, Japan, to crash electrons and positrons into one another at close to the speed of light.

Established in honor of the late world-renowned physicist Satoshi Ozaki, who helped design and build accelerators for scientific research across two continents, the program encourages and funds the exchange of graduate students between Japan and the US to strengthen scientific collaboration and facilitate cooperation.

Remembering the Holocaust

State Rep. Tommy Reynolds (center) visits with UM Hillel officers Malachy Bartkus (left) and Isabella Gadberry at the Mississippi Capitol.

Liberated prisoners from Auschwitz concentration camp.

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Two students from UM Hillel addressed legislators at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson on the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, known internationally as Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jewish student community board officers Malachy Bartkus, a rhetoric major from New Orleans, and Isabella Gadberry, an allied health major from Germantown, Tennessee, were invited to speak to the House of Representatives chamber about the atrocities of the Holocaust by Rep. Tommy Reynolds (R-District 33).

“The anniversary is a solemn day,” said Jason Solinger, an associate professor of English and faculty adviser for UM’s Hillel group. “It’s important to commemorate the people whom the Nazis murdered and to remember that these death camps were established by a modern, industrial power that had been a democracy only a few years before. At a moment when antisemitism seems to be on the uptick, and when we’re losing Holocaust survivors year after year, it’s more important than ever to remember.”

GIVING DAY CHALLENGES

LEAVE A MARK

F

ive College student participants in UM’s Giving Day 2023 were chosen randomly to join Dean Lee M. Cohen in signing the wall of the Ventress Hall turret.

Eriona Banks, an English major; Anderson DeWitt, biological science; Casey McCarthy, English; Marshall St. Amant, biochemistry and classics; and Margaret Walker, public policy leadership; added their mark with students from more than a century ago.

OTHER NOTABLE CONTRIBUTIONS— • Jenny and Tom (BA political science 85) Becherer of Alexandria, Virginia, gave $20,000 after 10 gifts were received for the Lanny Griffith Endowment in Political Science.

• In honor of Professor John Conlon, Mary Allen (BA public policy leadership 12) and Josh DeBold (BBA economics 05) of Arlington, Virginia, gave $1,000 in their challenge for 10 people to donate to the Department of Economics.

• Marc Rosen of Atlanta, a supporter of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, gave $6,000 to his Graduate Student Support Fund once the Center received 20 gifts.

• Women’s Basketball Coach Yo and her family supported the band, giving $1,000 after 30 gifts to the band.

• After 38 donations to the Bobby Towery Final Mile Scholarship to benefit Army ROTC cadets, members of the Kappa Alpha Order celebrated the memory of Colonel Bobby Towery (BBA accountancy 83, MED higher education and student personnel 94) with a $3,800 gift.

the South

LOVE OF

A PROFESSOR LAUNCHES LGBTQIA+ EMERGENCY FUND

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aime Harker, director of UM’s Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies and a professor of English, started the LGBTQIA+ Emergency Fund of North Mississippi.

“I decided that this was a need from attending the university’s Lavender Graduation. Just about every year, the student speaker talks about the trials they faced, and often, it is being cut off financially by their parents after they come out.

Some were homeless and living in their cars for a while and had to drop out of school. Students also come to my office on campus with similar stories. We often don’t hear about such cases, though, and it concerned me that students were getting lost and we didn’t know there was a crisis.”

Harker launched a website and organized a GoFundMe campaign to collect donations to provide short-term emergency help for LGBTQIA+ youths and young adults in north Mississippi who find themselves in need of housing, food, and medical resources.

s native Mississippians, Ron Feder and his late wife, Becky, grew up steeped in the folkways of the American South.

But it took an extended stay in the faraway Philippines to help them truly appreciate the extraordinary—and decidedly unique—culture of their homeland.

Ever since, the university has received major gifts from the R & B Feder Foundation in Ron and support of the study and preservation of Misty Feder Southern culture. Most recently, Ron Feder and his wife, Misty, recommitted their support of the Oxford Conference for the Book with a $100,000 gift, matching 2012 and 2002 gifts to the program that is hosted

by UM’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

“We are committed to supporting the work of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. The Conference for the Book is a favorite of ours because its purpose is to encourage new writers to tell their stories about the South,” said Ron Feder of Ocean Springs. “Particularly, the Conference for the Book is about telling the untold stories of the South in the 21st century.

“Oxford and the university have long nurtured aspiring writers. The Conference for the Book is just one more opportunity to celebrate creative regional storytelling in this amazingly fertile literary space.”

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Legacy

ST. AMAND

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rofessor of Biology Wilbrod St. Amand loved his students and recognized the importance of resources in higher education, whether they support laboratories, faculty, or teaching assistants.

In his estate, St. Amand left approximately $1 million for the St. Amand Biology Labs Endowment, a new university-wide teaching award, and a biology laboratory teaching-assistant award he previously created in memory of his wife, Georgia Ann, an assistant professor of biology.

“I am convinced that the most important part in any endeavor is the foundation that you have to build from. Where is the foundation in biology?

To me, the foundation is in the laboratory,” said St. Amand in a 2019 interview.

The St. Amand Biology Labs Endowment provides income for annual supplies and upkeep. The St. Amand Outstanding Teaching Award Endowment yearly honors a non-tenuretrack faculty member. The Georgia St. Amand Laboratory Teaching-Assistant Award yearly provides a minimum of

SHAPING THE FUTURE

D

ana (BS mathematics 07) and Adrian (BA, MA, PhD mathematics 06) Cartier of St. Louis—who believe Adrian (left) and Dana Cartier mathematics offers the key to success for many fields—are committed to giving the next generation of students the tools they need to thrive.

ONLINE The alumni gave $50,000 to create the Dr. Adrian EXTRA and Dana Cartier Graduate Student Stipend Fund for the Department of Mathematics and to support the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College Fund.

Adrian, cofounder and chief data officer of the software startup company Freight Science, serves on Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss fundraising steering committees for the College of Liberal Arts and for the Honors College. Dana started a consulting company and works with the state of Washington to create, write, and project manage a new Algebra 2 curriculum.

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three teaching assistants each $2,000 for demonstrated excellence in instruction and teaching.

“If something is done well, then I think that individual deserves recognition,” said St. Amand, who in 1970, received the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teaching Award, which he touted as one of his greatest honors and the inspiration for his gift to establish the laboratory teachingassistant award.

REACHING FOR THE STARS

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he late Donald Summers loved studying the universe and spent his career as a professor teaching astronomy and conducting physics research. A new gift in his name enables students to reach for the stars.

The $200,000 gift from his brother, Robert Summers, of Palo Alto, California, establishes the Dr. Donald Summers Undergraduate Scholarship Endowment and the Dr. Donald Summers Graduate Student Fellowship Stipend Endowment.

Donald Summers Recruited to UM in 1989, Summers was focused on the investigation of the fundamental nature of matter. The professor collaborated on high-energy physics experiments at Fermilab in Illinois and at ONLINE EXTRA CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research headquartered in Switzerland.

Ann Fisher-Wirth (rear, left center) leads a class of students in the environmental studies minor program on the Grove Stage.

Steven B. King (below left) and Dean Lee M. Cohen

THE NEW CLIMATE

S

ECONOMY

teven B. King (BPA business 75) of St. Louis, has an affinity for the natural world and an affection for the university.

Upon discovering that UM did not offer a major in environmental studies, he put efforts in motion to help make that a reality with $1.3 million to fund a new faculty position and support work to create an environmental studies major.

His major gift established the Steven B. King Environmental Studies Endowment with the resources to enhance faculty strengths in teaching, research, and outreach on the environment. College of Liberal Arts scholars have a variety of areas of expertise about the interaction of humans and the environment, and the King endowment provides needed faculty depth to help the program move toward offering a major.

UM currently offers an environmental studies minor, founded in 2009 by the recently retired professor of English Ann Fisher-Wirth, that is popular with students in a variety of majors.

“The planet is facing many challenges— climate change, loss of biodiversity, plastic waste, pollinator decline, and more—and interest in the environment is high, especially among young people. Their generation will deal with and bear the burden of these issues,” King said.

“Majoring in environmental studies is an excellent way to work to solve these challenges and have a rewarding career. Companies are now attuned to

environmental ramifications and are hiring people to find solutions to these problems, so there’s a demand for these professionals.”

Chancellor Glenn Boyce applauds King’s vision. “We are grateful to Steve King for providing significant resources to promote this incredibly important interdisciplinary field of study. Steve values the expansion of our academic footprint in environmental studies. His generous gift is an investment in our students and in our future.”

“His generous gift is an investment in our students and in our future.”

—Glenn Boyce

Chancellor

Deanna Kreisel and Cristin Ellis codirect of the environmental studies minor and are faculty in the Department of English. The environmental studies faculty are developing the major before proposing approval on campus and with the state Institutions of Higher Learning board.

UM’s environmental studies program prepares students to become innovators and leaders to meet environmental challenges head-on.

Alumni with the minor work on environmental policy in the offices of US senators and in state and city governments; they are environmental engineers and water resources engineers, and program coordinators at environmental and communitycentered nonprofits; and they work for companies and nonprofits ranging from the American Sustainable Business Network to the Houston Zoo. “Our planet desperately needs people prepared to interpret research data and provide innovative solutions to ongoing problems,” said Lee M. Cohen, dean of liberal arts. “While our environmental studies minor has taken off, we will be much better poised to produce environmental studies experts by developing this academic major.

“Steve King’s gift elevates our ability to train students with interests in sustainability and protecting the environment. We will be better prepared to participate in the national and global conversation on environmental concerns and contribute to solutions.”

MAKE A GIFT Delia Childers

662.915.3086 dgchilde@olemiss.edu

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 61.

IN MEMORIAM

Founded in 1848, the College of Liberal Arts is the largest academic division of the University of Mississippi. The College encompasses the fine & performing arts, humanities, natural sciences & mathematics, and social sciences.

MAKING HISTORY

T

he late historian David Sansing is memorialized with a marker between Bondurant and Bishop halls, buildings where he taught classes and kept office hours from 1970 to 1994. Named teacher of the year in 1990, Sansing put a spotlight on the history of his home state with his teaching and writing. The Greenville native’s several books include a sesquicentennial history of the university and the 2013 textbook A Place Called Mississippi (Clairmont Press), used in high schools throughout the state.

&

for Research, Scholarship, & Graduate Education Kirsten Dellinger Associate Dean for Diversity Equity and Inclusion Donald L. Dyer Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs

Holly Reynolds Associate Dean

AEROSPACE STUDIES

HONOR ASSIST

D

Lee M. Cohen Dean Anne Cafer Associate Dean

r. L. Michael Brunt (BA biology 76), the Pruett Professor of Surgery and section chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, made a gift to create the H. Dale Abadie PhD Graduate Student Stipend Endowment to honor his former professor and to provide annual graduate stipends for deserving students in the Department of History.

“Dr. Abadie was an inspirational teacher and role model and probably had the most influence on me of any faculty member at Ole Miss,” the alumnus said. “As a freshman, I took his European history class, and his unique teaching style was incredibly engaging, as he related stories of individuals who helped direct the course of history. As a senior, I did an independent study project with Dr. Abadie, where our small group learned about some of the challenges of the Reformation Period.

“What I would love to see more than anything is for this endowment to be the start of many more that donors create to help make Ole Miss more competitive for the best graduate student candidates in the country. In the long term that will help in the continued development of high-quality future faculty members.”

Matthew Mills, Chair AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

Caroline Hourin

Director of Development

Suzette Matthews

Executive Director of Development Claire Moss Associate Director of Development CENTER FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Jesse Tune, Director

HALEY BARBOUR CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF AMERICAN POLITICS CENTER FOR BIODIVERSITY & CONSERVATION RESEARCH

Michael Barnett, Interim Chair BIOLOGY

Sixue Chen, Chair

Nancy Maria Balach, Director

CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY

Richard Buchholz, Director

CLASSICS

April Holm, Director

Jim Cizdziel, Acting Chair

Molly Pasco-Pranger, Chair ECONOMICS

Joshua Hendrickson, Chair ENGLISH

Caroline Wigginton, Chair HISTORY

Noell Wilson, Chair INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Oliver Dinius, Director MATHEMATICS

James Reid, Chair MILITARY SCIENCE

Nicholas Kalitka, Chair

CENTER FOR CIVIL WAR RESEARCH CLINICAL-DISASTER RESEARCH CENTER

Stefan Schulenberg, Director CENTER FOR ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND ECONOMIC EDUCATION

Mark Van Boening, Director

FASTRACK LEARNING COMMUNITY

Derrick Jones, Director GROVE SCHOLARS

Gray Flora IV, Director HEALTH PROFESSIONS ADVISING OFFICE

Sovent Taylor, Director

GRISHAM–MCLEAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

MODERN LANGUAGES

Albert Nylander, Director

MUSIC

Breese Quinn, Director

Daniel O’Sullivan, Chair Nancy Maria Balach, Chair NAVAL SCIENCE

John Bub, Chair PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

Steven Skultety, Chair PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY

Luca Bombelli, Chair POLITICAL SCIENCE

John Bruce, Chair PSYCHOLOGY

PUBLIC POLICY LEADERSHIP

Mark Chen, Chair

SOCIOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY

Jeff Jackson, Chair

WRITING & RHETORIC

Stephen Monroe, Chair

62. VIEW FROM VENTRESS

Assistant Vice Chancellor of Development

ART & ART HISTORY

Michael Barnett, Chair

ONLINE

Nikki Neely Davis

INSTITUTE FOR THE ARTS

THEATRE & FILM

EXTRA

Director of Development

Derrick Harriell, Director

Rebekah Smith, Chair H. Dale Abadie (above); Dr. Elizabeth Brunt and Dr. L. Michael Brunt

Delia Childers

CENTER FOR MULTI-MESSENGER ASTROPHYSICS CENTER FOR POPULATION STUDIES

Anne Cafer, Director

PRISON-TO-COLLEGE PIPELINE PROGRAM

Patrick Alexander, Cofounder

PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES CENTER

Kristin Austin, Director

SARAH ISOM CENTER FOR WOMEN & GENDER STUDIES

Jaime Harker, Director

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH LABORATORY

Jonathan Winburn, Director CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOUTHERN CULTURE

Katie McKee, Director

SOUTHERN DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

Andrew Harper, Director

SOUTHERN FOODWAYS ALLIANCE

Melissa Booth Hall, Mary Beth Lasseter, Interim Codirectors

The College of Liberal Arts is grateful to the following donors of gifts made between July 1, 2022—June 30, 2023: PATRON..................................... $25,000+ BENEFACTOR...........$10,000 – $24,999 PATRON

Anson Mills Marsha D. and Haley R. Barbour Stephanie G. and Richard R. Barrett Elizabeth M. and L. M. Brunt Kaye H. Bryant Cathead Distillery Cockayne Fund Linda L. and Dean Copeland Meredith and James H. Creekmore Martha and Adam Derbyshire Maker’s Mark Janet G. and S. Lawrence Farrington Diane and Alan Franco Cecile B. and Robert H. Harper Hook and LeEarle Charitable Fund Ann and Jimmy Hunt Indigo Road Hospitality Group James and Madeleine McMullan Family Foundation James H. Creekmore & Meredith W. Creekmore Fund Larry K. Johnson Steven B. King Laughing Gull Foundation Grace Lawson and David Lawson Lodge Cast Iron McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauces Stewart M. Madison Susan and David Marcinek Lara Marcon and J. V. Kodali Deborah F. McAbee and J. Byron Morris Frank J. Morgan, Jr. (In Memoriam) Mary Ann T. Myers (In Memoriam) Alex and Wiley North Scarlotte M. and Crymes G. Pittman Renvy G. Pittman Floyd E. Pruden, Jr. (In Memoriam) Welissa W. and Gregory C. Rader Robert H. and Cecile B. Harper Charitable Fund Ruth U. Fertel Foundation Rob Samuels Elane O’Rourke and Bran J. Scott Sara M. Shoemaker Brook and Pam Smith Fund Wilbrod St. Amand (In Memoriam) Robert S. Summers Lisa and John D. Tickle II Tony Chachere’s M. Amanda and Edward R. Wilson, Jr.

BENEFACTOR

American First National Bank AT&T Mississippi Mary L. and Freddie J. Bagley Baumann Giving Account Brenda K. and Lee Baumann Mary Celeste Beall Courtney A. and Michael Benedict Hannah and Tommy Bishop Blackberry Farm Taste of the South Graham G. Boyd Elizabeth B. Brevard (In Memoriam) Henry C. Brevard, Jr. (In Memoriam) Shawn S. and David E. Brevard Jenny Cockburn-Becherer and Thomas L. Becherer Martha S. and John H. Dunbar Jessica and Adam Eckelbarger Caren and Tom Gallaher Bettie Y. Graham R. Newell Graham (In Memoriam) Lance Greer (In Memoriam) Reba M. Greer

EXECUTIVE.................. $5,000 – $9,999 ADVOCATE.................... $2,500 – $4,999

Kirsten E. and J. Ryan Hill HQ Trane Technologies Illinois Tool Works c/o YourCause John H. Dunbar Charitable Fund c/o Fidelity Charitable Meredith and Scott Keating Ariel and Tim Kelley Meredith Keyes and Kurt Bland Carol and P. Ken Lackey, Jr. Robert C. Long Karen C. Matthews Michelle S. and S. K. Morgan, Jr. The Mountain Valley Spring Water Arnita and Tim Ozgener Elizabeth A. Payne and Kenneth A. Rutherford Carrie T. Scarborough Melissa Scott Misty Shaw-Feder and Ronald M. Feder Simmons Farm Raised Catfish Shirley and Harry D. Simmons, Jr. Risa P. and Sumner S. Spradling Gabriella and Marshall St. Amant Taqueria del Sol Virginia Wine Board Polly F. and Parham Williams, Jr. Melinda C. and Benjamin Yarbrough

EXECUTIVE

Virginia F. and James G. Brooks Lissa L. and Adam H. Broome Dana D. and Adrian W. Cartier Elizabeth and Grant Clark T. Keith Everett Fortress Consulting, LLC Carol H. and William T. Gafford Gary And Noell Wilson Fund Alexis L. and T. Wynn Giles Ginger & Charlie Taylor Fund Susan H. and G. O. Griffith, Jr. Teresa and Lance Hirsh Cathy and Jay U. Howington Dee D. and John R. Jacobson KPMG Foundation Leah K. and Gary G. Lawson Celeste and Ben Luke, Sr. Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint Sally and Waddell Mashburn Jay McCracken Diane W. and Steven G. McKinney Sean Michaels Amy and Thomas C. Norton Christy and Scott Parris Marc Rosen Self Foundation Jeanne and Gerald Spedale Jessica and Michael Sznapstajler Marian Templeton and Lance Templeton The BGR Foundation, Inc. The Derbyshire Charitable Fund Eleanor A. Gill and Pete R. Thomas II Kristin and Eric Thompson Rhondalynne and Bruce E. Ware Patricia C. White Noell and Gary M. Wilson

ADVOCATE

Marshall G. Bennett Bentons Smokey Mountain Country Hams Bessemer National Gift Fund Billy Reid Inc. Frank W. Bishop III Norma S. Bourdeaux Charles A. Brown Burch House G.P. Lara M. and Vance P. Derryberry Mike L. Edmonds Valerie and Eron H. Epstein Judith C. and Charles H. Ferguson, Jr. Jackie and John S. Hicks Gloria Kellum Scott R. King Lenell Kittlitz

Pamela B. and William F. Lawhead Linda D. and Alexander MacCormack Christopher A. Noone Visit Oxford Barbara S. and S. Milburn Price, Jr. R&B Feder Foundation Joann S. and R. P. Scruggs III Judith K. and W. H. Searight III Brooks W. Stewart Jerry D. Strickland II Rachael and Dax Swatek Memorie White

ASSOCIATE

Ann J. and H. Dale Abadie James M. Achord Ann and Lex Alexander Dorothy S. Allen Deborah D. and Steven D. Ammann Janice A. Antonow Apple c/o Benevity Daniel B. Ashlin Anna M. Barnes Beverly Bartow Monica T. and Raymond L. Bergin, Jr. Beth and Joel Little Giving Fund Ananda K. Bollu Susan E. Bostick James C. Cantrell Joseph R. Caplis Carolyn M. Carothers Ann Cashion Mary O. Cobb (In Memoriam) Thomas J. Cobb Beverly J. and Kevin N. Cole Kathryn C. and William D. Coleman Erika M. and Gilbert J. Comley Ali A. and Hugh R. Comley Kara R. and Charles W. Cook, Jr. William F. Crozer Barbara H. and Mike J. Daush Alex K. Davidson Mary Allen L. DeBold and Joshua N. Debold Janie and Dennis E. Dollar Ouida C. and W. W. Drinkwater, Jr. C. Martin Dunagin, Jr. (In Memoriam) Trese A. Evans ExxonMobil Foundation Hubert Fabre Bobby Ferguson Marcie C. and William R. Ferris, Jr. Rien T. Fertel Susan French and Brenton French Ronald M. Frith Mary Ann H. and Don L. Fruge’ BettyLou Garrigan Marcy and Mike Gertler Sarah D. Gillespie Janice M. and Chellis O. Gregory Leigh S. and Thomas D. Growney Susan Sadler Hayman Jeanne T. and William S. Hays Harriet N. and Albert L. Hilliard Sarah L. and Guy L. Hovis, Jr. Dorothy M. and Thomas S. Howorth HSU Charitable Foundation Chern J. and John C. Hsu J.J.R.C. Memebers and Alumni Martha Johnston E. Grady Jolly Harriet L. and Joel R. Jones Cathryn and Mike Judice C. Glenn Kellum Katy and Joe Kindred Amanda B. and Jason Landry Lucie M. and Joe Lanoux Mary Beth Lasseter and Ned Mitchell Helen and John T. Lewis III Patricia P. and William Lewis, Jr.

ASSOCIATE.................. $1,000 – $2,499 STEWARD............................ $500 – $999

James L. Lindsey Elizabeth D. and Joel C. Little Kelly R. Loudermilk Kelly B. and Samuel H. Love Lauch M. Magruder, Jr. Susan Marquis Lois Mateus Caroline S. and J. Cal Mayo, Jr. Yolett A. McPhee-McCuin and Kelly L. McCuin Suzanne M. McDonald Juliette W. and Gary A. McGaha Mike and Marcy Gertler Donor Advised Fund Floyce M. and Charles W. Misenhelter Lisa C. Mitchell Michael B. Mitchell Karen C. and Robert S. Montjoy C. Sue Moore Melanie R. and Paul H. Moore, Jr. Jeffrey Morgan Nancy W. Murrill Meta S. and Jonathon M. Nash Andrea Nguyen Christopher Northam Doug Odom Joseph F. Odom Michelle M. and Richard E. Olson Julia R. and Rush A. Peace, Sr. William E. Pegues III Jessica A. and C. Hayden Perkins John M. Pope K. Gail Russell and Ken Potish Michael Rawdon Diana W. and John B. Read III Kimberly S. and Peter Robertson Jewett and Alan F. Rothschild, Jr. Amy J. Runnels C. Lee Sanders John Santamaria Scruggs Family Charitable Fund Raphael Semmes III Graciela L. and Elias H. Shaer Susan P. and David C. Shaw Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society Catherine C. and Taylor M. Sledge, Jr. Carolyn V. and W. Marion Smith Southern Humanities Fund Gregory O. Spellman Kathleen Sprague Bill St. John Mary E. and J. Blake Stancill Susan Stone Forrest W. Stringfellow The Alton & Mary Cobb Charitable Fund The Lyric Oxford, LLC The Santamaria Family Fund Laura H. and Samuel R. Thomas Carol and James Titley Jane M. and Thomas H. Walman Wellspring Fund Clifford E. Wheeler, Jr. Kathryn L. Wiener LeaAnne and Al L. Williams Marylyn N. and Edwin N. Williams Jacob H. Williamson Marie L. Antoon and Charles R. Wilson Erin Wyper

STEWARD

Kaya Adams Janet L. and Fritz Anderson E. Murray Avent Kimberly and Jeffrey E. Aycock Benjamin T. Bailey S. Jennifer Sugarman and Konrad J. Banaszak Susan H. and Brett R. Bartlett Baxter International Meredith D. Beldford Fairy A. and John A. Brown USAF (Ret.) Ann W. and T. Walker Brown Stacy D. Bruton

Sara J. and Thomas R. Burke Craig E. Burnham Sixue Chen F. Cade and Jason M. Clurman Chris Cookson J. Richard Cox, Jr. Catherine B. and William L. Crews Wallace E. Davenport Dedrick Family Foundation Bram Dedrick Priscilla and Joe D. Dowdy, Jr. Melissa M. Edwards Entergy Corporation Julie T. and Henry R. Fanton Colleen and Kenneth Fernandez Lyn F. and John F. Fields Martha and Paul Fogleman Fritz And Janet Anderson Donor Advised Fund D. Keith Fudge Gavin And Meredith Scruggs Charitable Fund Casey F. Glanzer Gary Gold Laura E. and W. Walton Gresham III Philip A. Gunn Majorie Gunther Irene T. and Shreve Guthrie Susan S. and John R. Guyton Stephen A. Harrison Catherine A. Hawkins Robert C. Hazelrigg Mary V. and Van E. Hedges Sarah and Tim Hicks James P. Hightower Jeanne B. and Richard S. Hollis, Jr. Katrina and Michael Hourin Susan S. and John N. Hudson Nancy T. and C. Douglas Kelso III Joyce E. and David A. King Elizabeth and Ross C. King Brent Kulman Francis Lam Lovett L. Ledger Marcy Loomis Mon Y. Lung Kathryn S. Major Cassidy T. and Matthew S. Majure William McDonald Alice W. McSwain Donna G. and Eric A. McVey III Elizabeth Mehrle Nicole E. and Loren L. Monroe Kristina and Tom Montague Karen B. and A. Bruce Moore, Jr. Elizabeth L. Morgan Claire C. and William P. Moss III Peter Newman Kathi Oliva Holmes S. Pettey Brian Pray Edward J. Quigley Kathy S. and Lee W. Randall Carol S. and Randy Rawlings Patricia B. and William L. Reeves John H. Rice John T. Robertson Stephen E. Rowell Saint Leo Lucius F. Sams, Jr. Carol C. Satterfield Meredith and Gavin S. Scruggs Susan B. and Homer L. Sledge III Frances P. Smith Rebekah E. Smith Rose and Hubert E. Spears, Jr. Susan & John Guyton Gift Fund Judith A. and Oscar Thompson Paige D. Thompson Katelyn A. and Joshua L. Triplette Emily and J. Keith Tutor Donna D. Wade James C. Watts Keren E. and David K. Wells Jeffrey Wiley Aaron Woodhead Marvin D. Woody Julie C. and Geoffrey O. Yoste

VIEW FROM VENTRESS 63.

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EMPOWERING THE NEXT GENERATION

NOW & EVER

Through the general education foundation of the University of Mississippi undergraduate degree programs, the College of Liberal Arts ensures that all UM students are grounded in skills that are the mark of a welleducated citizen who is able to fully participate in our society, economy, and democracy. These skills include a strong foundation in written and oral communication, critical thinking, quantitative skills, ethics, and leadership. Our 43 undergraduate degrees, 52 minors, and 32 graduate degrees in the areas of fine & performing arts, humanities, natural sciences & mathematics, and social sciences teach students to successfully navigate complexity, diversity, and change in our world.

This publication, The View from Ventress, is published annually by the College of Liberal Arts University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.

ONLINE EXTRA

For information about how you can be a part of our work, please scan the code or call 662.915.1122.

Telephone: 662.915.7178 Email: ventress@olemiss.edu Website: libarts.olemiss.edu

The University of Mississippi does not discriminate against any student protected by law based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or genetic information. 08/2022