Vision 2024

MANAGING OBSTACLES: THRIVING IN A WORLD OF UNCERTAINTY

DEAR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

“Everyone has a story.” In the last ten years seemingly a dozen books have been published with that or some slight variation for a title. Perhaps the best known is a self-published romance novel written by first time author Savi Sharma. Her book sold more than 100,000 copies in the first 100 days. In it she writes, “Everyone has a story. It might or might not be a love story. It could be a story of dreams, friendship, hope, survival or even death. And every story is worth telling. But more than that, it’s worth living.”

In this 2024 edition of Vision, welcome to a series of articles about many of these same or similar life experiences as our team of wonderful writers provide insights into so many stories— stories that bring to life the wonderful breadth and depth of a College of Arts & Sciences. Some of these are stories about the voyage of discovery that many of our students and alumni go through as they seek to discover and then pursue their dreams.

As the stories on Tina Dukes and Oscar Perez illustrate, realizing one’s dream can be challenging while others seem to emanate only after some meandering. Many of the stories focus on the efforts of our faculty as they invest in the state in a myriad of ways. Whether the subject is autism, or burn victims, or non-native English speakers, or suicide, our faculty are involved in so many efforts to make a difference in some way. Still, other items in this edition feature stories about storytellers. Whether it is telling fictional or true but hidden stories about Mississippi or the great outdoors, or a story about how an aspiring Top40 deejay became the owner and editor-in-chief of a successful publishing company, they provide a captivating sketch of the range of stories that make up the wonderful tableau of the College of Arts & Sciences.

Though we live in a world of change, where technological innovations seem to know no bounds, what has not changed are some of the most basic needs of students and society. Today,

even more than ten years ago, the value that many employers place on professional skills such as communication, problem-solving, creativity, adaptability, collaboration and flexibility has only increased. These are some of the most important skills that a broad liberal arts and sciences education is best at providing. Further, many of the basic questions about the human condition and the fundamental challenges we face have not changed.

Antigone and the bitter choices she faced may not be directly replicated today, but the tragic challenges, the empowering opportunities and the essential responsibilities of free persons in a free society have not changed. The reasons that led the Greeks and Romans to canonize the study of natural and social sciences, arts and humanities have not changed. As we prepare our students to “take care of what matters” as leaders in an evolving global context, the College of Arts & Sciences understands that we need to do more than equip them with technical skills that can too easily be outsourced to technologies like generative AI. Instead, A&S is committed to leading MSU in fulfilling the land-grant mission of the institution to educate broadminded and culturally literate citizens who take seriously their civic duty to leave their communities better than how they found them. It is only through empowering students to write their own story that we will enable them to “tell their story” the way they want to.

Thank you for your support of A&S and its students and faculty. Please keep in touch and come visit when you can.

Hail State!

Rick Travis Dean, College of Arts & Sciences

Psychology grad student partners with Starkville Police and Theatre MSU

Bringing humanities to life for Mississippi high schoolers

Dukes discovers her purpose at MSU-Meridian

MSU faculty reach out to at-risk youth

MSU faculty elevates fieldwork with commitment to preservation

MSU Ph.D. student offers wider accessibility to the great outdoors

MSU faculty use immersive program to invest in bilingual learners

Philosophy, religion and firefighting

Michael Farris Smith joins list of accomplished Mississippi authors

‘Hidden History’ book series brings Mississippi to life

DEAN & LEADERSHIP:

DR. RICK TRAVIS

DEAN

DR. GISELLE THIBAUDEAU (MUNN)

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH

DR. MELANIE LOEHWING

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

KARYN BROWN

ASSISTANT DEAN FOR COMMUNICATION AND MEDI A

DR. NICOLE RADER

ASSISTANT DEAN FOR STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

DR. KATHY SHERMAN-MORRIS

ASSISTANT DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

DR. SHANE MILLER

ASSISTANT DEAN INTERN

DR. KELLY MOSER

ASSISTANT DEAN INTERN

ALISA SEMMES

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO THE DEAN

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS:

DIANA NEAL

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT I

EMILY CAIN

DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC RELATIONS––CURRICULUM AND ADVISING

HANNAH COLEMAN

ADMISSIONS COORDINATOR

KASONDRA HARRIS

DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC RELATIONS––BSIS

KATE SAWAYA ACADEMIC ADVISOR––BSIS

RESEARCH:

SILAS KNOX

SENIOR CONTRACT AND GRANT SPECIALIST

SAM KEALHOFER COORDINATOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND RESEARCH SUPPORT

MICHIA WILLIAMS BUSINESS COORDINATOR

COMMUNICATION:

KELLI ANTHONY GRAPHICS AND WEB DESIGNER

SAM KEALHOFER COORDINATOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND RESEARCH SUPPORT

SARAH NICHOLAS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST

CALLIE SIMONTON STUDENT WORKER

DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS:

SARA FREDERIC DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

KEISHA KNOX ADVANCEMENT COORDINATOR

BUSINESS AFFAIRS:

SHERYL KINARD BUSINESS MANAGER II

LATOYA ROGERS BUSINESS COORDINATOR

JALANA CAPLES ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT I

WRITERS FOR VISION:

KELLI

PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR DISCOVERS HER PURPOSE AT MSU-MERIDIAN

By Lisa Sollie

Intimidated and uncertain—this was an apt description of Mississippi State-Meridian student Tina Dukes six years ago following a contentious divorce and a cross-country move from Arizona to Meridian. Dukes, 47 at the time, was determined to regain her life and discover her purpose—and she knew the best way to do both was to return to school.

“It was scary to step out and enroll at Meridian Community College because it had been so long since I had done anything on my own,” she said. “But everyone was so willing to support and encourage me. I realized the only way I could fail was not to try.”

After earning an associate degree, Dukes transferred to MSU-Meridian in the fall of 2022 to study social work, but after one semester she switched her major to psychology.

“I’ve always enjoyed studying behavior and the mind, and the field of psychology provided the education I was looking for,” she said. “Once I began taking classes I discovered there were things

I instinctually understood, and I knew it was where I belonged,” Dukes said.

She also found a sense of place at Aldersgate Retirement Community where she completed an eight-week internship in the summer of 2023 through The Riley Foundation’s summer work program––an annual grant program for nonprofit organizations in Meridian and Lauderdale County to hire college students for the summer.

Aldersgate Executive Director Robyn Stephens was looking for someone to assist the director of HUD services and the chaplain to identify residents who have needs beyond what the retirement community provides. She wanted someone to communicate with residents and their family members and assist them to obtain resources that would enhance their physical and mental health.

According to Stephens, Dukes embraced this role, roaming the hallways of the massive retirement community doling out smiles and hugs to the residents. She demonstrated genuine

care and concern about their well-being, family and friends, and each encounter was intentional, bringing joy to both Dukes and the residents, Stephens explained.

“Tina is a warm and compassionate person, and residents as well as team members truly enjoyed spending time with her last summer,” said Stephens. “She has a heart to serve others and easily found ways to make a positive impact at Aldersgate.”

“This job was amazing, and I still can’t believe it was offered to me,” Dukes said. “It was so fulfilling to come to work every day and check on the residents, spend time with and love on them and find out what they need. I believe my journey is to share goodness the best I can and to walk through this world as Christ did, and I was able to do that here.”

While at the retirement community, Dukes teamed up with Marion Swindell, a professor of social work at MSU-Meridian, who drafted a grant to purchase large print books and taught a class on brain health for the retirees. Dukes helped residents sponsor a canned food drive for the Boys & Girls Club and also conducted a few mindfulness sessions.

“Mindfulness is simply using your breath and becoming aware of your mind and body and your environment. Breath work carries oxygen through our body, and it engages the parasympathetic nervous system, helps our heart and circulatory system function properly, and teaches emotional regulation, which is good for everyone. It’s particularly beneficial for the elderly, school age children and those who deal with anxiety,” she said.

The practice also has helped Dukes overcome events from both her childhood as well as her divorce, which has not only shaped where she is now—but where she is headed.

Dukes currently helps care for her mother, with whom she lives, attends her college courses and travels off-grid whenever she can get away. While she isn’t ready to make firm career plans, she does foresee continuing her education through a master’s degree program. She would like to continue helping others and sharing knowledge of mindfulness techniques, whether in venues like Aldersgate or school settings. l

Mississippi State-Meridian student Tina Dukes visits with a resident at Aldersgate Retirement Community.

For more about MSU-Meridian, visit meridian.msstate.edu.

For more information about the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree and to explore the Division of Arts and Sciences at MSU-Meridian, visit meridian.msstate.edu/ academics/arts-sciences/.

‘HIDDEN HISTORY’ BOOK SERIES BRINGS UNKNOWN ASPECTS OF THE MAGNOLIA STATE TO LIFE

By Kelli Anthony

Fighting the national stigma of negative media attention and a challenging and unfavorable past for the Magnolia State, a Mississippi State faculty member is using his writing and communication skills to help create a restored future for Mississippi. In their “hidden history” book series, Josh Foreman––a Department of Communication instructor and advisor to MSU’s student newspaper, The Reflector––and Ryan Starrett, a high school educator and Foreman’s lifelong friend, offer audiences an opportunity to learn about state history through closely researched and fact-based storytelling. Writing the series has been a journey for the two Mississippians who are excited to fulfill their writing dreams.

Foreman and Starrett became friends at a young age when they attended the same tumbling class in Jackson. Because of the boys’ friendship, Foreman’s and Starrett’s parents also became friends––fostering the boys’ relationship though they lived in different areas of Jackson and attended separate high schools.

When it came time for college, Foreman enrolled at MSU and Starrett went to the University of Dallas, but the two kept in contact. As a student, Foreman spent much of his time at The Reflector, starting as a writer, then section editor, and finally becoming editor during his senior year.

“Getting involved with The Reflector was one of the top few life-changing decisions I ever made, along with moving to Korea and marrying Melissa,” Foreman said. “Before The Reflector, I had not found my place at MSU or in the world. After working for The Reflector for a couple of years, I realized I had found my community, my friends, my purpose, my future. I had always loved reading. The Reflector––and the communication department––taught me how to write and why writing is important. If I had never walked into The Reflector newsroom in 2003 looking for a job, God only knows how different my life might have turned out.”

During a hiatus from the University

of Dallas, Starrett also attended MSU, and Foreman and Starrett had their first opportunity to work together at The Reflector. Foreman said he persuaded Starrett to get involved at the newspaper. While Foreman was editor, Starrett served as an op-ed columnist writing about campus issues from a Christian perspective.

“I was very involved at The Reflector, and when Ryan came to Mississippi State, I told him he would be a great columnist, and that’s how we got our first opportunity in the writing and editing arena together,” Foreman said.

After graduating from MSU with a bachelor’s degree in communication and a concentration in journalism, Foreman traveled to Seoul, South Korea to teach, write and edit. He lived and worked in Korea for nearly a decade before moving to New Hampshire to complete his Master of Fine Arts degree in writing with a concentration in nonfiction from the University of New Hampshire.

Starrett, on the other hand, graduated

from the University of Dallas, and settled in Muenster, Texas, where he taught high school theology, debate and history for seven years. He also pursued other degrees, completing a master’s in theology from the University of Dallas, a master’s in theological studies from Spring Hill College, and a master’s in history from Adams State University.

“Ryan is a scholarly guy,” Foreman said. “He got three master’s degrees, and I got my master’s in writing. For many years we were both studying and continuing to learn. For my MFA, I was studying writing, learning how to be a better writer with a dedicated focus on producing written work and getting published.”

During that decade apart, they continued to stay in touch, and when they both moved back to Mississippi, they were excited to catch up on life.

write something together.”

However, writing and publishing are two different feats. As Foreman explained, writers write all the time— there is always a new essay or story—but transitioning written work into published work is difficult.

we started writing, so they had a huge impact. They are an amazing bookstore.”

As a result of the success of “Hidden History of Jackson,” Lemuria Books invited Foreman and Starrett to participate in the Mississippi Book Festival. The pair has subsequently participated in the book festival three times since publishing the first book together.

“We met at Broad Street Bakery,” Foreman said. “I was coming out of my MFA with the mindset that it was time to write and be published. So, when Ryan and I both got back to Mississippi, we started talking about writing together, which we’ve been talking about since high school. We have always wanted to write about Mississippi together.”

As they were catching up and talking about working on a project, they began discussing Richard Grant, a British author and journalist who lived in Jackson. At the time, Grant had recently published a popular book titled “Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta.”

Foreman laughingly remembered their naïve idea and said, “We were talking about Richard Grant, and we said, ‘why don’t we just look up his address, go to his house and see if we can meet him?’ So, we left Broad Street, went to his house with a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon, because we knew he liked to drink bourbon, and his wife was home, but not Richard. She told us to come back in 30 minutes, and we could meet him. We showed back up 30 minutes later, and he was there. He invited us into his home and talked to us for about half an hour. We decided that day we would

“Getting a publisher to pay you for your work is a big hurdle,” Foreman said. “I had been published a lot before in the journalistic world, but never in the book world. So, I did not know how we were going to make that transition to getting our work published. Ryan had done some writing on the Catholic Church and integration in Jackson, and he told me there was a publisher, the History Press, that publishes local history and had shown interest in publishing his master’s thesis. Ryan suggested we write and send them a book proposal about the hidden history of Jackson since we are both from the Jackson area. So, that’s what we did.”

The duo wrote their historical narrative book proposal about Jackson, and sent it to the History Press. The publisher liked the proposal and agreed to publish the work. Foreman and Starrett were excited to get started.

“We had a book contract with about a year to work on the book,” Foreman said. “We started digging into the history of Jackson, and Ryan wrote a little bit about the Catholic Church and integration, and integration more generally. We chose stories about Mississippi’s somewhat rough frontier past, race issues and slavery. We had never written anything together before, so we had to work on getting our voices to match. We were writing parts of chapters and trying to edit them together. We submitted it to the History Press. Thankfully, they liked it and published it in 2018.”

Mississippians embraced “Hidden History of Jackson,” and Jackson residents especially enjoyed reading it. Lemuria Books in Jackson held a book signing for the authors with a large turnout, and that support helped solidify the duo’s success.

“Lemuria promoted us.” explained Foreman. “They have been our biggest supporter aside from our publisher since

The History Press was pleased and told Foreman and Starrett they would consider publishing more of their work. The duo subsequently wrote a series of other “Hidden History” books, including “Hidden History of the Mississippi Sound” in 2019, “Hidden History of New Orleans” in 2020, “Hidden History of Natchez” in 2021, and “Hidden History of the Mississippi Delta” in 2023. Foreman and Starrett also wrote “Dallas Tough” in 2020 and “Death Along the Natchez Trace” in 2022.

“We’ve had a lot of success with our books,” Foreman said. “Unfortunately, the ‘Hidden History of New Orleans’ came out right as the pandemic began, so we did not get to complete our press tour for the book. It was disappointing, but it was out of our control.”

Writing with a partner creates interesting challenges. Foreman enjoys writing narratives, and Starrett likes to write about politics and history. To write with each other, they melded both interests into the narrative history genre.

“Finding a way to mesh our writing was challenging at first,” Foreman said. “After writing the first chapter, we realized that if we plan the chapters together and write separately, it was usually easier to have them fit together. So, for me, I love to write little personal stories with drama, so I will always look for a little personal story that might not be historically significant but is entertaining. Ryan has written a lot about politics in the early Gulf Coast colonial days. He likes to take well-known historical stories and find a unique and interesting angle to tell a more wellknown story.”

It’s not lost on Foreman that Mississippi often has been written

about negatively. Writing about Mississippi’s history from a factual, historical perspective was important to him. He sees his writing as an important aspect of his professional growth and personal fulfillment. It also is important that their books build relationships with Mississippians and reflect positively on the state.

“We write about Mississippi. It’s a small state. It doesn’t get a lot of positive attention. We try to make our books as interesting as we can, and we believe that is a service to the state because no one else is doing it. If there is someone out there who is interested in learning about Mississippi and wants to know some interesting stories about Mississippi, we’re filling that niche. I’m a sixthgeneration Mississippian, and I love telling our stories,” Foreman said.

Foreman’s and Starrett’s forthcoming book, “Wicked Mississippi,” is a true crime book compiled with crime stories. According to Foreman, many in the book were well-known in their respective eras, but many Mississippians will be surprised to read about some of the crimes that have taken place and been forgotten about over time.

“With these crime stories, a lot of them, they kind of fade away, and people don’t remember them as much because they didn’t have a huge historical impact,” said Foreman. “I bet you could ask 1,000 Mississippians, and no one would have ever heard many of these stories.”

“Wicked Mississippi” is slated to release in summer 2024. l

Josh Foreman is a print and digital communication instructor in MSU’s Department of Communication and serves as the advisor of The Reflector. He is married to Melissa Hubley, whom he met while working in South Korea. The couple have three children––Keeland, Genevieve and Ulrich.

Ryan Starrett teaches at his high school alma mater, St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison. He and his wife Jackie have two children––Joseph and Penelope. Interestingly, Joseph, 10, was the photographer for several photos in two of Foreman’s and Starrett’s books.

TAKING CARE OF WHAT MATTERS: A PERSONAL ENDEAVOR BY MSU FACULTY TO REACH OUT TO YOUTH AT RISK OF SUICIDE

By Kelli Anthony

Michael Nadorff, a Mississippi State University professor and director of the Department of Psychology’s Ph.D. program in clinical psychology, is serious about the university’s mission, “Taking Care of What Matters.” His in-depth research into suicide prevention came into play in the university’s backyard this year, serving as a lifeline for a local high school grieving the suicide loss of a beloved friend.

“If you are worried enough about someone that you think you need to ask if they are suicidal, I don’t care what their answer is––you need to refer them to someone who can help them survive the crisis,” he said.

Using funds from a 2015 grant, Nadorff created a suicide prevention curriculum aimed at equipping high school teachers with the tools to recognize potential suicidal behaviors in high school students. With the local school suicide loss, Nadorff felt compelled to work with Kevin Armstrong, an associate professor and graduate coordinator in the psychology department, to adapt the curriculum to use directly with this community in crisis.

In adapting the curriculum for teenagers, Nadorff and Armstrong

understood teachers would still play a significant role in aiding the future prevention of suicide, so the two led several important suicide prevention sessions for the teachers prior to engaging the students.

“That was extremely helpful for us to get to know what they were experiencing on the ground,” Nadorff said. “The teachers were remarkably aware of the challenges, pain and hurt their kids were experiencing. It was a lot easier to go in front of the students feeling like we already knew what was going on from a teacher’s perspective, so that was helpful.”

To better tailor the curriculum message for students, Nadorff and Armstrong split them into two age groups, with each completing two half-hour curriculum sessions dedicated to suicide prevention and risk detection. School staff and administration, a local therapist and two local pastors were on hand to provide support for students alongside Nadorff and Armstrong.

“We wanted to create a panel of school and local care providers to show the students there are a lot of adults at their school and in their community who love and care about them,” Armstrong said. “We also wanted them to know there is

support available in whatever way made the most sense for them and their own families.”

During the student sessions, Nadorff and Armstrong utilized live, interactive polling where students could post anonymous questions.

“We presented the curriculum to students about three months after the crisis, and we used interactive polling because we believed the students’ pain and worry was fresh enough to really ask the hard, scary questions,” Armstrong said. “It allowed students to answer questions about their sources of stressors and express the feelings they had.”

One of the main goals of presenting the curriculum to the local teachers and the students was to help them understand the importance of caring for one another. One of the live poll questions was, “What does it look like to others when you are hurting?” This question, and the responses received, encouraged students to help each other.

“One of the things that impressed me about the curriculum is it allowed us to really leverage the students’ peer relationships,” Armstrong said. “We wanted to help the kids help each other, ultimately leading to identifying who

might need a check-in. We wanted to equip the kids to help each other because they often know the most about what other kids are suffering in silence about.”

Throughout the presentation and the live polling, Armstrong and Nadorff observed that students were ready to do something for each other and for their community. It was evident that the students needed this forum as a safe place to express their feelings with each other, they said.

“There was a moment when it felt like a gamble, but it also was something they were ready to participate in, and they did. When we finished the second student session, I was like, ‘That was the right thing to do,’” Armstrong said. “The students were ready to do this in a group setting and be helpful to one another, and I really felt good about them getting a message about how they can be supportive to one another.”

With suicide numbers climbing in the world following 2020’s outbreak of COVID-19, Nadorff and Armstrong acknowledged the importance of consistently checking in on loved ones and finding a support team. Nadorff also emphasized the importance of suicide crisis awareness and helping others through immediate crises that arise. He said finding someone to help in a crisis can make a difference in surviving it.

“I want people to know that recovery is possible,” Nadorff said. “What we know from the literature is helping someone get through a period of suicide crisis is key. Often after that crisis, they never have it come back up again. It is about surviving that crisis. So, when there is someone in that much distress––even if you don’t want to ask—be the one that speaks up.”

Armstrong also emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining meaningful relationships that can create a space for sharing struggles when they arise.

“One of the things we stressed with the kids was to get your team together, whether it is for a friend or for themselves,” Armstrong said. “When somebody’s life is at stake, do not apologize for involving an adult. Just do what you’ve got to do to get through it.”

Teacher sessions also made Armstrong realize the need to remind educators they are a part of a team and can help each other.

“It’s a call to act if you work with kids,” Armstrong said. “There is no longer, ‘I’m sure they will be OK.’ If you notice something, you speak up immediately. Gather the team and work to help the student through the crisis.”

Nadorff has dedicated his research efforts to studying the cause, assessment and treatment of suicidal behavior. His research stems from questions he began to ask after his own family’s experience related to suicide. He became motivated to understand suicide, how someone gets to that point and what can be done about it. Since then, Nadorff has worked to better understand those at risk of suicide and comfort families and friends touched by it.

Armstrong also has experienced a family suicide and devotes much of his research endeavors to attention-deficit/hyperactivity and externalizing disorders in teens and emerging adults, as well as a new line of research on cross-referrals between clergy and mental health professionals. l

ABOUT KEVIN J. ARMSTRONG

A faculty member since 1997, Kevin Armstrong is the graduate coordinator for Mississippi State’s Department of Psychology. A two-time MSU Faculty Member of the Year, as awarded by students of the Psi Chi honorary society, he is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (formerly known as the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy). Armstrong received his bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in Minnesota in 1982, and his Ph.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1992. His research interests include attention-deficit/hyperactivity and externalizing disorders in teens and emerging adults; nonprescription stimulant use in teens and emerging adults; and cross-referral practices between professional clergy and mental health practitioners. At MSU, Armstrong teaches Behavior Therapy, Ethics and Professional Issues in Clinical Psychology, Behavior Modification and Abnormal Psychology, and provides supervision of doctoral students in the department’s psychology clinic.

ABOUT MICHAEL R. NADORFF

A faculty member since 2012, Michael Nadorff is the director of the Ph.D. program in clinical psychology in MSU’s Department of Psychology. He has amassed more than $11 million in grant funding since 2019. A previous recipient of the MSU College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Eminent Scholar Award, Nadorff is a founding member and president of the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and a member of the Military Suicide Research Consortium. He is also a member of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health’s suicide prevention task force. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2007, his master’s degree from West Virginia University in 2009 and his Ph.D. from WVU in 2012. At MSU, his research is focused on etiology, assessment and treatment of suicidal behavior; behavioral sleep medicine––particularly assessment and interventions for insomnia and nightmare disorders––as well as clinical geropsychology and the use of technology for psychological treatment. He runs the MSU Sleep, Suicide and Aging Lab.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. reported 48,183 suicide deaths in 2021, compared to 40,464 motor vehicle deaths and 19,510 homicides. More than 7,000 of those suicides involved minors and adults between the ages of 10-24. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide, help is available from the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline––by dialing 988. To initiate services at the MSU Psychology Clinic, call 662325-0270. The clinic is staffed by second-year doctoral graduate students within the American Psychological Association-accredited clinical psychology Ph.D. program who are supervised by Licensed Psychologists and a Licensed Professional Counselor.

BURNING QUESTIONS, COURAGEOUS ANSWERS: PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND FIREFIGHTING

By Sam Kealhofer

Hailing from Conroe, Texas, Tyler Davis’s passions have led him on an unexpected journey from the hallowed halls of MSU’s Department of Philosophy and Religion to the heated frontlines of firefighting. Through it all, his story serves as a testament to finding purpose through service to others.

From an early age, Davis said his faith took root as a guiding force, a compass pointing him toward a life of meaning. As he embarked on his college career, he decided to major in philosophy with a concentration in religious studies. His end goal was pursuing a life of ministering to and guiding others.

“My faith has always been such a central part of my life. I felt I should follow that and potentially make it my career through seminary and some sort of professional ministry,” Davis said.

The path ahead seemed clear, but life—as it often does— had surprises hidden along the way. During his freshman year, a mutual friend introduced Davis to a girl named Mary Page. A native of Tupelo, she was pursuing an education to be a pediatric physical therapist.

“When I first saw her, I told my friend he had to set me up on a date with her. Later that week he brought her to an intramural football game of mine and the rest is history,” Davis said.

The two married during Davis’s senior year, and with love in the picture, his future was intertwined with their relationship, their church community and their local support system. The plan to move off for seminary found itself overshadowed by the magnetism of Starkville and its people.

During this time of transition, Davis said a close friend of his suggested he think about pursuing firefighting as a career. It was a call to serve in a different way—a call that resonated with his desire to help those in need. And so, with the same determination that fueled his academic pursuits, he applied to the Starkville Fire Department.

Davis’s trek into the world of firefighting, though unexpected, was rooted in his unwavering compassion for others. His background in philosophy and religious studies had instilled in him a deep understanding of humanity, fostering the empathy and care that would later define his role as a firefighter. Every call, every emergency, became an opportunity to be a guiding light in times of darkness.

“Having a genuine compassion for those in need and for those facing real pain and hurt, has tremendously helped me in doing my job well. My time studying philosophy and religion has just given me a deeper love and care for people, how they think, how they operate and how to care for them well,” he said.

In Davis’s world, service is not just a duty—it’s a way of life. This commitment to put others before oneself guides his

mindset every time he walks into the fire station.

“As far as religious principles that affect my work, I would say the idea of service is paramount. Christ calls us to be servants—servants of those around us and servants to those in need, regardless of their circumstance or situation. He calls us to put others’ needs ahead of our own and to even possibly lay down our lives for one another. I can’t think of a better mindset to have as I show up to work every morning,” he said.

But his background in philosophy, Davis discovered, was more than abstract pondering—it was a training ground for critical thinking, problem-solving and discipline. He said his time at MSU equipped him with skills that seamlessly transitioned into the world of firefighting, where the ability to think outside the box and find solutions to complex problems proved to be indispensable.

Within the fire department, Davis said he realized everyone brings unique gifts to the table. Just as philosophy taught him to see the diverse perspectives that shape the world, he applied this mindset to his firefighting profession. Recognizing each person’s strengths and allowing them to shine fosters an environment of collaboration and efficiency—a lesson that transcends disciplines.

Every 911 call holds a story of someone in need, and Davis understands the gravity of his responsibility.

“I try every day to train and prepare myself to be worthy of that response to their call. I find a great sense of purpose in my preparation for those moments,” he said.

“One accomplishment I’m most proud of is becoming what’s called a ‘smoke diver,’” Davis said. “It’s essentially a four-day ‘Hell Week’ style class where there is about a 15% pass rate. They push you to your absolute mental and physical limit to see if you can perform your basic tasks under extreme physical and mental stress. My class started with 22 firefighters and we graduated with only four. I was pushed to my limits—and then past—what I thought I was capable of.”

Davis prepares tirelessly, both mentally and physically, to be worthy of the trust placed in him by those who call for help. His dedication to readiness stems from a deep sense of purpose, knowing his actions can truly make a difference in someone’s life.

Integrating philosophy, religion and firefighting might seem like a puzzle of mismatched pieces, but Davis’s journey shows that these seemingly incompatible parts can fit together in surprising ways. His advice to those seeking to bridge their passions with their profession is simple yet profound: “Find kindred spirits, be open to creative approaches, and embrace the complexities that enrich your chosen path.” l

INK AND INFLUENCE: A CAREER IN STORYTELLING

By Sam Kealhofer

Anative of Jackson, Joe Lee has amassed a remarkable career that highlights the transformative power of education and the significance of pursuing one’s passion.

Lee graduated from Mississippi State University’s Department of Communication in 1987, focusing his education on radio and TV.

“I wanted to be a radio disc jockey in my teen years—I wanted to count down American Top 40. The communication program, especially with a radio/TV emphasis, seemed to feed right into that,” Lee said.

Little did he know that this choice would be the cornerstone of his future success. Lee’s education not only honed his communication skills but also kindled his interest in storytelling and creative expression.

After graduation, Lee delved into the world of full-time radio, crafting his voice and enhancing his communication abilities. He later ventured into cable and broadcast TV, gaining valuable experiences. This diverse professional background laid the groundwork for his writing career, exposing him to different forms of storytelling and communication platforms.

It was during this time Lee found himself drawn to tell his own stories. He began writing and eventually finished what would become his first novel, a legal thriller titled “On the Record.” However, the path to becoming a published author was not without its challenges. Lee tirelessly searched for a literary agent

for his novel, which he believed held the potential to captivate a wide audience, but to no avail.

The year 2000 marked a turning point in Lee’s journey. He contacted Quail Ridge Press, a local book publisher that mostly published cookbooks, though they had also printed a few nonfiction works. Lee asked if they’d be interested in publishing his work, and while they ultimately turned him down, they offered to help him self-publish the book at his expense. Lee believed in his novel and knew he’d have a professional product with the publishing help, so he agreed.

“I said yes and never looked back,” Lee said.

Driven by an unwavering spirit and a desire to foster local literary talent, Lee founded Dogwood Press in 2002. Coming from the world of communication, he believed in his ability to market his work and the work of other local writers effectively, and so Dogwood Press was born.

Since that time, Lee has successfully published several novels, mostly in the mystery/suspense genre.

“I’ve always enjoyed page-turning suspense. Authors like Greg Iles, C.J. Box, Michael Connelly and Lee Child are great fun to read. Those authors have a lot going on in their stories, with characters at risk, and other characters that stand to gain from behavior and actions that may be illegal or unethical. There’s a lot of ‘putting good people in difficult situations and seeing how they respond’ in the works of those authors, and my writing style is

probably similar in some ways because I enjoy the genre so much,” he said.

Lee’s “Oakdale” suspense series, loosely based on the Starkville of his youth, reflects his fascination with the dynamics of small communities. By infusing crime and dysfunction into this backdrop, he explores themes of redemption, choice and the complexities of human behavior.

“Good people can make bad choices, and there are a lot of redemptive themes in my novels. I’ve seen people get second chances in life and make the most of them; I’ve also seen people throw potential away and hurt others. My novels are character driven, as well as plot driven, and I would refer back to the good people who are put in difficult situations and have an opportunity to demonstrate their character by making good choices in those trying times,” he said.

Since its formation, Dogwood Press has become a platform to showcase Mississippi’s fiction-writing talent, highlighting the synergy between Lee’s passion for writing and his communication skills to network with local audiences, build a literary community, and market the works of Dogwood Press authors. The press has published more than a dozen authors and three dozen titles. It has three more works coming in 2024: the new novel “Sunset in the Sound” by Biloxi-based Candace Cox Wheeler, the debut novel from Gautier-based Scott Lenoir, “The Amendment,” and a second novel by Sumrall resident J. Stephen Beam.

In 2023, Lee created Sunrise Press, a division of Dogwood Press, to publish selected fiction and non-fiction faith-based

titles. The first Sunrise title is an advent book written by Brandon-based author Monica Walton.

From refining his writing style during his university years to conquering shyness and honing public speaking skills, his education and communication background equipped him with valuable tools that have played a pivotal role in his multifaceted career.

“It took me years to understand how important all the skills were that I picked up as a communication major. All of them, including the importance of networking, have formed a skill set that has helped me open a lot of doors. My son John graduated from MSU in 2020 with a communication degree with an emphasis in broadcast journalism, and I have already seen the same skill set from him at his young age,” Lee said.

For individuals aspiring to be successful authors, Lee offers vetted advice. He emphasizes the significance of visual storytelling, compelling dialogue and a comprehensive outline. The abilities to share one’s work with others and acknowledge their constructive criticism also play a crucial role in a writer’s growth and development.

Lee’s career trajectory embodies the transformative impact of education and the pursuit of passion. His success underscores the power of determination, adaptability and the courage to carve out one’s own path. His story is a testament to the idea that a solid foundation in education, combined with an unwavering passion, can unlock a world of opportunities and pave the way for remarkable achievements.l

MSU ALUMNUS JOE LEE, A CELEBRATED MISSISSIPPI AUTHOR, READS FROM HIS PUBLICATIONS AT EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

MSU PH.D. STUDENT USES SKILL, PASSION TO OFFER WIDER ACCESSIBILITY TO THE GREAT OUTDOORS

By Joseph Newell

Mississippi State Department of Geosciences doctoral student Kristopher McDill dedicates his time to developing digital storytelling and its ability to expand accessibility to the great outdoors, especially for those who face barriers to physical exploration.

McDill’s work involves creating a Geospatial Interactive Storytelling experience about the Appalachian National Scenic Trail using ArcGIS Story Maps. In essence, he is building interactive visualizations for traditional maps of the Appalachian Trail using mapping software for data collection, analysis and solutions.

“The project aims to make the trail digitally accessible to those who cannot physically hike it by leveraging maps, video, images, sounds and geospatial locations to tell the story of the trail through the eyes of a thru-hiker—those who complete the entire hike in one trip,” he said. “I was inspired by my own experience of thru-hiking the trail with my wife in 2021 and realizing that less than 5 miles of the 2,200-mile trail are wheelchair accessible. Now, my project uses more than 7,000 videos and images taken during the hike.”

With the popularity of transformative technology, McDill hopes to use these technological advances as leverage to connect people to the outdoors through digital storytelling.

“I started using 360-degree videography to capture hikes for YouTube and Google Maps,” he said. “By doing that, I have learned how to create the blue lines you see on Google Street View for hiking trails.”

Though completing a large amount of work independently, McDill emphasized the importance of his mentors’ input and said their involvement has been instrumental to his project.

“Sara Lalk and Brian Williams in the MSU Department of

Geosciences have given me a great working experience, and I cannot help but to point out their encouragement and support during this project,” McDill said.

The deeper inspiration behind his research, McDill said, comes from the art of storytelling and its connection to society and the everyday lives of others.

“Storytelling is a cultural practice deeply embedded in Appalachia and the outdoors. I feel this can be effectively passed on through digital media to make these spaces more accessible,” he said. “I hope to make a national public resource more accessible to millions of people across the globe who cannot physically hike the trail. Truly, I believe my work will not only assist hikers and outdoor enthusiasts in learning more about the trail, but also will enable those with physical limitations to view parts of the trail for the first time, helping them connect with the outdoors and hopefully, giving them a story to tell.”l

Kaci McDill scrambles up the granite peak of Mount Madison in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

KRISTOPHER M c DILL

Kristopher McDill is a Louisville native and a Ph.D. student in the Mississippi State Department of Geosciences. He joined the MSU Research and Curriculum Unit in 2022 as a project manager, where he supports national certification efforts, education technology training and instructional design for career and technical education. He is a Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2, an Apple Certified Teacher and an EdPuzzle Coach. He also holds Kahoot’s Verified Creator and Gold for School certifications and Quizizz for School certification. McDill received his bachelor’s degree in history from Jackson State University and earned his master’s degree in geosciences from MSU. He is an avid longdistance backpacker and outdoor enthusiast with more than 3,000 miles of backpacking experience, including a 2,200-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail in 2021. His Story Map includes 360° content as well as still images and traditional video. To view his Story Map, scan the QR codes below:

MSU Coastal Geology Field Course

Join Mississippi State University’s Department of Geosciences on an exciting nine-day field course.

Noxubee Hills Trail System

Discover the serene beauty of Noxubee Hills Trail System, nestled within Mississippi’s Tombigbee National Forest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cary native Joseph N. Newell earned his bachelor’s degree in English in May 2022 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in English. He serves as the English Graduate Representative for both the Dean’s Advisory Board and the English Curriculum Committee. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Composition I instructor. He is a research assistant for Lourdes Cardozo Gaibisso. Anticipating graduation in May 2024, Newell plans on pursuing a doctorate in English and teaching at the collegiate level.

Top: Kaci McDill with view of Saddleback Mountain in Maine; Left: Kaci McDill hiking on the Green Tunnel portion of the Appalachian Trail near Tellico Gap in North Carolina; Right: Kyle McDill with sunrise at Max Patch in the Pisgah National Forest of North Carolina on the Appalachian Trail.

RESIDENTIAL CAMP BREATHES LIFE INTO HUMANITIES FOR MISSISSIPPI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

By Joseph Newell

For the second year, Mississippi State offered two dozen rising high school juniors and seniors the chance to engage with collaborative and independent scholars at Humanities Camp, a weeklong residential camp that allows students to explore how the humanities involve and affect multiple fields of study and relate to everyday life.

Funded by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English, the July 2023 Humanities Camp emphasized the importance of incorporating the humanities into problem-solving.

Abigail Voller, camp director and English department instructor, worked to ensure the camp was an efficient and purposeful environment for educational growth.

“It usually takes about 10 months of consistent work to revise and adjust the camp to make it more effective and to fully prepare for our next year’s camp—work that is totally worth it when we see the scholars invested in what they’re learning and creating during camp,” she said.

Voller wanted the event to enrich the lives of participants, and she stressed the importance of campers’ involvement in community-based projects to build leadership qualities.

Humanities Camp participants have been nominated by their Mississippi schools based on their personal qualities of a Humanities Camp scholar: being collaborative, inquisitive, independent, mature and open to different perspectives. These nominated scholars participate in single-session courses taught by MSU humanities professors and participate in various critical—and creative—thinking activities and challenges. They also work on a group project in which they identify a “pain point” they see in Mississippi or in their communities, conduct relevant research, and then develop viable community-based solutions to the issues they identified.

“They present their pain points and solutions to a panel of guest judges at the end of the week to determine the most effective solutions,” Voller said. “Humanities Camp’s theme is ‘Understanding Mississippi to Write the Future,’ and this theme is integral to what the scholars learn and apply during camp.”

However, Voller’s vision extends beyond the classroom as she hopes to engage participants in community-based activism.

“Humanities Camp is more than just attending classes and having fun activities—it’s also thinking critically about our state and our communities and the welfare of our citizens. One of the main focuses of the camp is exploring how we can create small solutions to everyday issues, potentially creating better and healthier communities in Mississippi. The camp exposes our scholars to the humanities and how the humanities impact our daily lives, often in ways that we don’t recognize on a regular basis. All-in-all, we plan an immersive educational experience that will invigorate these scholars’ intellectual and social

curiosities in ways that will stay with them in the long term, along with the friendships they build during camp,” Voller said.

Campers found many moments they could truly enjoy through the week.

Mikiah Hodges, a senior at Holmes County Central High School in Lexington, said he was inspired by being around a community of scholars who openly shared their future ambitions.

“I enjoyed the activities that were educational and helped us interact with one another and, at the same time, adapt and open up to see the beauty in working together. One of my favorite things I experienced was getting to hear other students’ dreams and aspirations from around Mississippi, as well as getting to have the freedom of experiencing a shortened version of college life. This camp opened my eyes to real-world problems and solutions. Most importantly, it showed me how working together as a team leads to a small impact in the community, which can ultimately grow into more and become something big,” Hodges said. l

ABOUT ABIGAIL VOLLER

Abigail Voller is a Columbus, Mississippi, native who recently was promoted to Instructor II in MSU’s Department of English. She earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Mississippi College and a Master of Arts degree from MSU, where she graduated Cum Laude. Since then, Voller has been appointed to numerous positions, serving as the Humanities Camp director, on-campus recruitment officer for the Department of English, internship coordinator, new faculty mentor, and faculty advisor for Bully’s Bards and No Longer Bound.

MSU FACULTY, STUDENTS USE IMMERSIVE PROGRAM TO INVEST IN BILINGUAL LEARNERS

By Sarah Nicholas

A Mississippi State faculty member is using her Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, or TESOL, program to show the benefits of learning alongside bilingual students, an act that changes the lives of multilanguage learners and those teaching them.

“In this community-engaged program, we use an asset-based model which is a teaching approach focusing on recognizing and leveraging strengths, skills and assets students bring to the classroom, including those whose native language is not English,” said Lourdes Cardozo Gaibisso, an assistant professor in the MSU Department of English who trains undergraduate and graduate-level students how to teach English to those with a different first language.

“When it comes to students facing language barriers, an asset-based perspective shifts the conversation from deficits to the valuable resources and abilities these students already possess when entering the schools,” she continued. “They speak one, two and sometimes even three languages, which means they enact highly sophisticated ‘languaging’ practices.”

Cardozo Gaibisso’s class, Approaches to TESOL, became an MSU community-engaged learning course in 2022 after she completed a Community-Engaged Learning Fellowship.

“We do the training component in the summer and then we receive support from the MSU Center for Community Engaged Learning to redesign our courses and add a community-engaged component. Our aim is to get more teachers prepared to work with emergent bilingual learners, both nationally and internationally,” said Cardozo Gaibisso, who serves as a research fellow with MSU’s Social Science Research Center.

“This course covers various approaches to language teaching and sociocultural issues connected to being a language teacher. Students gain practical experience and develop professional competence by tutoring emergent bilingual learners in the Starkville Oktibbeha School District weekly during the semester. Through their tutoring experience, students develop a deeper reflective understanding of the field of TESOL and the connections between theory and teaching practice.”

Duncan Stanley, Junior

Valencia Epps, a Starkville native and elementary education graduate student, said after earning her undergraduate degree in elementary education from MSU in 2022, she realized she wanted to learn more about teaching English as a Second Language and enrolled in Cardozo Gaibisso’s course.

“I have previous experience with the scholarship program TaLK—Teach and Learn in Korea—through which I taught English for two years in rural South Korea,” Epps said. “I was unprepared and quickly realized that even though my native language is English, it was certainly not easy to teach English to English language learners.

“In this course, we were given the opportunity to tutor emergent bilingual students at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary. I had two third graders—one whose native language is Spanish, and one whose native language is Hindi. My experience tutoring these students was wonderful,” she continued. “They told me they looked forward to our sessions every week. I felt grateful to be their supporter and motivate them to reach their

For more on MSU’s TESOL program and Community-Engaged Learning Center, visit: https://www.english.msstate.edu/linguistics/ tesol and https://www.ccel.msstate.edu/ faculty/workshops.

full potential. In this English-dominated country, it is important for us to make sure we provide enriching learning experiences so students can become successful; however, we must also make sure students do not lose valuable parts of themselves in this process.”

Sakira Crawford, a senior secondary education major from Ocean Springs, said being part of the TESOL program at MSU is like being part of a family.

“Everyone is so passionate about teaching and providing the best resources for emergent bilingual students, and it inspires me to continue to become the best I can be,” Crawford said. “The TESOL program and my supportive classmates encouraged me to shoot for the stars.”

Crawford credited her peers’ encouragement for helping her receive the prestigious Critical Language Scholarship, a national program that provides opportunities for American college and university students to study languages and cultures essential to America’s engagement with the world. The scholarship allowed her to travel to South Korea last summer.

“Not only did I learn Korean, but I observed how the country views language learning and the ideals they implement into their language programs. It was a fascinating and life-changing experience. I do not know what I would have done without MSU’s TESOL program and would highly recommend it to anyone who is considering teaching learners of other languages.”

Crawford said her experience tutoring emergent bilingual learners at a local school last year opened her eyes to the many differences between teaching English Language Arts and English as a second language.

“None of my students came from the same L1—first language—background, so it was a learning experience for all of us. Throughout my time with this program, I have reflected on my role as an educator and as a mentor for students coming from different cultures and walks of life,” Crawford said.

Trinity Mooneyham, a junior elementary education major from Hendersonville, Tennessee, said her time with the TESOL program helped her learn numerous teaching methods and strategies.

“I have also learned about the importance of cultural understanding and acceptance for learners and educators, and how these views affect how open learners are and how effective instructors can be,” Mooneyham said. “In this class, you not only receive the classroom experiences and the material presented to you from the textbook, but you also experience real-world language teaching and see the process of language acquisition in a real-life setting.

“This real-world experience is so rewarding for us as TESOL students and is extremely beneficial for the children we get to work with on a weekly basis,” she continued. “This course has been more helpful and educational than I could have imagined, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to teach English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language.” l

ABOUT LOURDES CARDOZO GAIBISSO

Lourdes Cardozo Gaibisso, a native of Montevideo, Uruguay, earned her Ph.D. in language and literacy education from the University of Georgia in 2018. She earned a master’s degree in education from the Universidad ORT Uruguay in 2013 and her bachelor’s degree in English language teaching from Uruguay’s National Teacher Education College — Instituto de Profesores Artigas in 2010.

At MSU, she specializes in systemic functional linguistics; science literacy for minoritized populations; culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies; and TESOL. Her research focuses on developing more equitable learning opportunities for multilingual migrant and immigrant youth, their families and communities.

In addition to her research and teaching, Cardozo Gaibisso has served as an education consultant for the World Bank’s Regional Program for the Development of the Teacher Profession in Latin America and the Caribbean and as a curriculum development specialist in teacher policy for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International Institute for Educational Planning.

She is an associate researcher in the social sciences for the National Researcher System — Research and Innovation Agency, Uruguay; and a research fellow for MSU’s Social Science Research Center. She received a 2023 North American Systemic Functional Linguistics Association Promising Scholar Award and earned a 2022 invitation to the Southeastern Conference Visiting Faculty Travel Grant Program.

Persistent, progressive and preservative—these are a few words that describe Jesse Goliath, an assistant professor in Mississippi State’s Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, as well as his colleagues.

Through his transformative research, Goliath is committed to communitybased projects that combat the erosive effects of time—safeguarding public sites as well as people, all of which could have otherwise been lost to history.

Goliath’s dedication and innovation can be illustrated through his numerous endeavors utilizing anthropology as a model to provide a voice for those who are marginalized. Recently appointed as the American Anthropological Association’s liaison to the Register of Professional Archaeologists and promoted to Fellow at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Goliath continues to make significant contributions in addressing systemic issues in Mississippi.

Goliath said a majority of missing people in the United States are minorities, such as women of color, Native Americans, members of the LGTBQ+ community, and others.

In an attempt to bridge this gap, Goliath has created the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons. His goal for the repository is to have the capability to locate a

A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS:

MSU FACULTY ELEVATES FIELDWORK WITH UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO PRESERVATION

By Joseph Newell

missing person before they are murdered and lessen the need for forensic anthropologists to work on such cases.

The growing Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons is housed on MSU servers at www. missinginms.msstate.edu. It is searchable by the general public, while law enforcement agencies have access to more in-depth data.

“The Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons was developed to help identify, resolve and archive Mississippi’s cases of missing and unidentified persons. It is a statewide database and collaborative tool that seeks to increase public access to missing persons’ information, partner with neighboring states to facilitate data sharing of missing and unidentified persons’ information, and visualize socioeconomic and medicolegal disparities affecting missing persons using geospatial analysis,” said Goliath, a forensic anthropologist.

“I usually mention the TV show ‘Bones’ when people ask what I do. Even though it is a fictional version, it helps give people a context for what a forensic anthropologist does. Forensic anthropology is the identification of human remains for law enforcement. It is an applied aspect of biological anthropology,” he said.

“Using our knowledge of the human skeleton and anatomy, forensic anthropologists create a biological profile—sex estimate, age range estimate, stature/height approximation, trauma assessment, an estimate of time since death—to assist law enforcement in identifying an individual. We also use our training in archaeology and cultural anthropology when necessary to provide additional evidence that could be used for a case.”

Goliath first began using his skills for the U.S. Department of Defense as a contractor working with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency helping identify missing service members from past war conflicts—WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War—on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.

“I enjoyed this rewarding work but wanted to get back into research and teaching and I felt that the applied anthropology program in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures would allow me the opportunity to both use my previous professional forensic experience and teach future forensic scientists,” said Goliath, who joined MSU’s faculty in 2021.

Goliath said there is a large demand for forensic scientists and investigators in Mississippi and his job at MSU assists with that need.

“We are working with local and state agencies to build our forensic programs and professional forensic networks to get our students employed in the many positions available.”

Goliath also is part of a current grant focusing on preserving sites of Black history. Supported by a National Endowment Grant for Humanities, the $347,959 grant funds recruitment of university students, and the preservation of the Starkville’s Brush Arbor/Starkville Colored Cemetery.

The location is described as “a microcosm of the broader heartwarming, awe-inspiring and difficult stories of Mississippi.”

The historic cemetery, located at 517 University Drive, served as a final resting place for many prominent members of the Black community from the late 1800s to the mid-1950s. With the oldest marker dating back to 1882, Goliath and the team are committed to educating the community on the cemetery’s significance by documenting and preserving its legacy for future generations, ensuring the history and contributions of the local Black community are not forgotten.

“Located at Brush Arbor Cemetery in Starkville, MS, our field school will train advanced-undergraduate and graduate students interested in archival, archaeological, historical and anthropological work to preserve African American sites through a community-based decolonial model. We train future practitioners in the critical skills necessary to equitably work with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations. Community-based anthropology is a growing field that aims to link traditional anthropological methods with the perspectives and voices of local communities,” Goliath said.

“My colleague, Dr. Jordan Lynton Cox, began this initiative last year and now I’m stepping in to see it through. I look forward to continuing her work on this important project in Starkville,” said

Goliath, whose experience as a forensic anthropologist, as well as working with MIA/POW communities, places him in the unique position of explaining science to laypeople and helping families deal with the trauma of death, especially those who still have missing family members or unresolved cases.

“The stories of the people buried in this cemetery deserve to be told, and their resting place should be preserved and protected. These truths are the basis of our field school: to preserve the stories of those whose stories were often overlooked,” said Jordan Lynton Cox, a former AMEC faculty member and original initiator of the grant. “Our goals are to use anthropological and archival methods to research the cemetery and document it through a digital site, while working with descendants and community members to create a shared vision of how to protect this space in the future.”

“The first time I walked into the cemetery, I was amazed at both the history that was clearly there as well as the increasing loss of that history due to foot traffic, vandalism and poor maintenance,” Lynton Cox said. “I knew something needed to be done that could protect this site long into the future, but I also knew our site was unfortunately not uncommon. There are many African American cemeteries throughout the country similarly at risk of erasure. Because of this, I knew training needed to be a central part of this process. We are not only working to save our cemetery, but also train students in how to do this work in their own hometowns.”

For the first year on the project, the MSU team spent time in state archives and the local chancery clerk’s office and visited genealogy websites including Ancestry.com to piece together the cemetery’s history.

“The students were able to connect with several descendants

of individuals buried in the cemetery, which provided us with more background information we could not find in the archives. We also did some archaeological surveys to gather more data on the site and determine if there were any surfacelevel artifacts that could give us more information about the cemetery. Finally, we hosted multiple community events to get the word out about this project and the importance of this site,” Lynton Cox said.

“I tell our students on their first day that this is not our site; we are here to use our resources and skills to honor the wishes of this community,” she said. “It is our job to gain their trust and honor the trust they give us.”

Goliath said, “People of color broadly are in danger of the violence of being missing, unidentified, and unremembered. Black cemeteries throughout the country are also in danger. Despite the sacrifice of black communities throughout the United States to cultivate spaces of remembrance, these cemeteries, and the stories of the individuals who are buried there, are in constant threat of demolition through neglect,” he said.

“Anthropologists and archaeologists in MSU’s AMEC department have the unique opportunity to teach students how to do research that honor the voices of communities of color and preserve a historic cemetery in our city,” said Goliath. “Specifically, my work as a forensic anthropologist allows me to assist law enforcement to resolve cases of missing Mississippians and bring closure to the families missing their loved ones.” l

ABOUT DR. JESSE GOLIATH

A native of West Virginia, Jesse Goliath—a forensic anthropologist—is the university’s first Fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the premiere organization for professional forensic scientists in the country. He received his bachelor’s degree in honors anthropology from the University of Notre Dame in 2007 and his master’s and Ph.D. in anthropology from Ohio State University in 2010 and 2017.

His research interests are skeletal biology, especially its applications to forensic anthropology, microscopy, functional morphology, bioarchaeology, skeletal development and bone biomechanics.

As a broadly trained skeletal biologist, his research employs the principles of bone functional adaptation theory to address the link between developmental changes in bone architecture and the mechanical loads experienced during life, including age- and sex-related changes in bone quantity and quality.

He excavated burials both domestically and abroad with forensic and archaeological field recovery experiences in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia and served as a consulting forensic anthropologist for city, state and government agencies. He developed histological age-estimation techniques and regression equation models for use in forensic pathology and anthropology casework.

Goliath joined MSU’s faculty in 2021 and recently was appointed the American Anthropological Association’s liaison to the Register of Professional Archaeologists.

PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENT PARTNERS WITH STARKVILLE POLICE, THEATRE MSU FOR RESEARCH ON NEW DE-ESCALATION TRAINING

By Joseph Newell

A doctoral student at Mississippi State is using her interest in psychology and law to identify a gap between police behavioral training and its practical application in real-world scenarios.

Deepali Dhruve—a fifth-year Ph.D. student in MSU’s psychology department—worked in public safety at the Irvine Police Department in California in 2018 and 2019 while pursuing her post-baccalaureate certificate in psychological science, exposing her to the challenges law enforcement officers often face.

After coming to MSU in 2019 to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology, Dhruve said an unusual pairing of law, psychology and theater has meshed to become a formative part of her experience.

“Research with law enforcement stood out as a critical area following the social justice protests in 2020. Given the numerous extant de-escalation trainings in the literature, it was clear that there is a gap between these trainings and the application of the skills. This was not surprising given that less than half of these trainings

did not utilize behavioral assessments to measure the efficacy of the trainings. There was a lot of blame being cast during this time, and not as much effort to seek solutions to the problem,” Dhruve said.

“I really wanted to be a part of the solution to the problem.”

Dhruve worked with her mentor and advisor Michael R. Nadorff, an MSU psychology professor, to develop a program to use live-actor role-plays, similar to what the medical community has used for decades to train and assess medical students. The interdisciplinary system not only can train officers in de-escalation techniques, but also provides the necessary opportunities needed to practice these skills.

“Because there weren’t many opportunities for officers to practice using their skills during the training, these opportunities for skill development only came during interactions between on-duty officers and civilians,” Dhruve said, pointing out the need for “practice runs” for officers to train and find ways to de-escalate situations.

The healthy relationship between MSU and the City of Starkville provided Dhruve an opportunity to gain hands-on experience at the Starkville Police Department.

“I was immersed in the atmosphere of the Starkville Police Department,” she said of her research. “I met with Chief Mark Ballard in addition to attending SPD staff meetings twice a week and going on ride-a-longs to truly engage with my research.”

Dhruve then added another component to her research: theater. In a unique collaboration with award-winning Theatre MSU, Dhruve worked with Assistant Professor of Theater Performance Tonya Hays and hired student actors

with funding provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This team was able to bring her vision of police “practice situations” to life, giving officers a chance to develop their skills by reacting to real-life scenarios. Lakeside Student Living Apartments in Starkville also partnered with the group by providing a model unit to conduct the role-plays.

“The one-hour mental health awareness and response training was adapted from the Crisis Intervention Team program, which is the gold-standard in de-escalation training. The adaptation was created by Rebecca Kimbrough, project director and lead clinical trainer for Mental Health Awareness and Response Training. This seemed like an excellent way to provide officers with the chance to safely practice using their skills and test their ability to implement those skills,” she said. “SPD officers have reported using the skills when responding to calls, and SPD has established this as an annual training for their officers.”

A 2023 College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Graduate Student at the Doctoral Level, Dhruve said she hopes her “outside-of-the-box” research inspires others to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and hear differing perspectives, hopefully inspiring creative solutions for problems.

“Although this work aimed to meet the needs of rural agencies, applied training can benefit everyone, including those individuals who may be located in metropolitan and urban areas. I hope this work will help make police-civilian encounters safer for both persons with mental illness and for law enforcement officers.” l

DEEPALI DHRUVE

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exceptional storyteller in top form…Smith is building his own Faulkner-esque universe.”

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MSU ALUMNUS JOINS LIST OF ACCOMPLISHED MISSISSIPPI AUTHORS

By Sarah Nicholas

“Humbled, flattered, honored,” said Michael Farris Smith when asked how it feels to have his name listed among Mississippi’s most famous authors.

“It’s a helluva lineup. I get asked about this a lot when I’m on book tours or doing an event out of state. And my answer is usually, if someone wants to put me in a list that includes William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Richard Wright, Willie Morris, and so many others, then there is nothing more rewarding,” Smith said.

A native of McComb and current resident of Oxford, along with his wife and daughters, the Mississippian didn’t settle into his role as a prominent author until his 30s.

“Larry Brown was the writer who really changed things for me,” said Smith, referring to the author of “Big Bad Love,” which was adapted for a 2001 film of the same name starring Debra Winger.

“When I read his stories and novels, I understood the landscape, the people. I recognized the voices. I related to the intense emotional lives of his characters. And when I began to read his interviews, understood that he didn’t come to writing until he was 29, did it just because he loved reading so much, and was a blue-collar guy who had worked about 50 different jobs, I realized that if I wanted to write, it wasn’t strange. I had so much in common with him and his own story,” said Smith.

Photo by Philippe Matsas

NEW YORK TIMES

YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

An MSU alumnus who graduated with a degree in communication in 1994, Smith lived abroad in France and Switzerland in his 20s—a time period that helped spark his literary career.

“I started noticing people reading at the cafes, at the parks, on the trains. So I decided to read to fill the hours. A few years of doing that and something just spoke to me, and I wanted to try writing for myself. I had no idea how hard it would be, and I’m glad I didn’t,” said Smith. “It was just blind, dumb luck. I loved it.”

Smith broke into the writing scene as a big name in 2013 with the publication of his second book “Rivers.” His first book “The Hands of Strangers,” originally published in 2011, was a novella with a small press in North Carolina.

“‘Rivers’ moved me into the bigger publishers, made best of the year lists, was reviewed everywhere. It really pushed me across the line,” he said.

Smith’s most recent book “Salvage this World”— published April 2023 and released this spring in paperback—is an indirect return to the rain-soaked and hurricane-ridden world of “Rivers,” he said.

“I always thought I would return to ‘Rivers’ at some point. It has been 10 years and four novels in between ‘Rivers’ and ‘Salvage This World’ but I always felt the urge to write about the weather-ravaged South Mississippi landscape again. When the image of a young woman with a kid on her hip, staring at an approaching storm, got stuck in my head, I realized this was the time to do it.”

Smith didn’t begin his writing career until more than a decade after his MSU graduation, but said his project-driven public relations concentration allowed him to be creative.

“The writing life and life as an artist is basically project-driven—you move from one thing to the next. So the study at MSU fit my personality, whether I knew it or not at the time,” said Smith, who stays connected to his Mississippi roots through local establishments.

“One of the great things about Mississippi is we have some of the best independent bookstores in the country. Square Books, Lemuria Books, Friendly City, Turnrow, Book Mart & Café, and many more. I always keep these stores stocked with signed copies of my work because it’s so important we all buy our books local.”

To aspiring writers, both at MSU and beyond, Smith said, “You have to read a lot to learn how to do it, to learn how language feels and how stories are told. Then you have to try, and fail, over and over again until you get better, and then you have to keep going. Put down your phone. Watch and listen to the world. You can only find your voice in what you observe and how you feel about it all.” l

Books by Michael Farris Smith - Left to Right:

1. Salvage This World (Little, Brown and Company; April 25, 2023)

2. Nick (Back Bay Books; January 18, 2022)

3. Blackwood (Back Bay Books; June 1, 2021)

4. The Fighter (Back Bay Books; reprint edition March 3, 2020)

**developed into a movie—Rumble Through the Dark—released November 2023 starring Aaron Eckhart, Bella Thorne, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

5. Desperation Road (Back Bay Books; Reprint edition January 30, 2018)

**developed into a movie released October 2023 starring Mel Gibson, Willa Fitzgerald, and Garrett Hedlund.

6. Rivers (Simon & Schuster; reprint edition September 9, 2014)

7. The Hands of Strangers (Blair; reissue edition March 1, 2017)

Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning Mississippi writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets, and have been named Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. He also has written the featurefilm adaptations of his novels “Desperation Road” and “The Fighter,” titled for the screen as Rumble Through the Dark.

He is the recipient of the 2014 Mississippi Author Award and has been awarded the Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Fellowship, the Transatlantic Review Award for Fiction, and the Alabama Arts Council Fellowship Award for Literature. His short fiction twice has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his essays have appeared in the New York Times, Catfish Alley, Deep South Magazine, and more.

MICHAEL FARRIS SMITH

URAL FINDS NEW HOME AT MSU AS INAUGURAL WILLIAMS CHAIR FOR LINCOLN AND CIVIL WAR STUDIES

By John Alex Nunnery

Since 2017, Mississippi State University’s Mitchell Memorial Library has been home to the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana, which features more than 40,000 items related to President Abraham Lincoln’s life. In 2022, MSU Libraries began to search for an individual who could collaborate with the library to continue growing and promoting the collection at the land-grant university and share knowledge about it with scholars, researchers and the public.

By early 2023, those looking for the right person for the job knew their search had been completed.

Susannah J. Ural, a professor of history and Civil War scholar, was selected as the inaugural Frank and Virginia Williams Chair for Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies. A military historian by training, Ural said her family’s history of military service helped inspire her scholarly focus. When she was offered the chance to become the Williams Chair late

last year, she said she knew it was an opportunity she could not pass up.

“I built my reputation as a Civil War military historian first in Texas and then I helped run the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. Lincoln, as commander in chief, is in nearly everything I’ve ever written, taught and studied,” Ural said. “When Mississippi State reached out to talk with me about the Williams Chair and explained the role I would have with this incredible collection of Lincolniana—the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, MSU’s well-respected history department, and the librarians and archivists at MSU Libraries—I knew I wanted to pursue this.”

Ural’s main responsibility is to strengthen accessibility and visibility of the materials to the rest of academia and the public so it can continue to thrive and benefit people

everywhere. Valued at over $3 million, it was once the largest privately owned collection of Lincoln memorabilia.

Large sections of the collection have been digitalized and made freely available online, which Ural said is already reaching people in and beyond the Mississippi State community.

“Users from all around the world access what’s already been digitized, and those range from scholars to students to educators, as well as the general public. Interest in Lincoln knows no bounds,” she said.

A distinct aspect of these works is the important documents and items not only from Lincoln’s lifetime but also through the present day. This, according to Ural, allows a perspective on Lincoln that other collections do not offer—showcasing how perceptions of Lincoln have changed through the decades.

Ural said with so much to explore—manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, sculptures and paintings—she is always finding a new treasure.

“The most surprising item may be a piece of a nightshirt worn by Lincoln and gifted by his widow, Mary Todd Lincoln, to abolitionist and suffragette Lucy Coleman. As for a personal favorite—I can’t pick one. I seem to have a new favorite every week as I explore the collection,” Ural said. “Recent favorites have been a bound copy of the Emancipation Proclamation presented to Lincoln by free African-Americans of New Orleans in 1864—when slavery was abolished in Louisiana—and John Rogers’s ‘The Home Guard: Midnight on the Border,’ both of which can be seen in the Williams Gallery. I also love the Civil War-era pamphlets—especially the General Orders that help us study changing policy and practice in the military as the war was waged.”

With such a vast array of artifacts through so many different eras, the Williams Collection can benefit the Mississippi State community in countless ways, Ural said, noting it helps paint a picture of the legacy Lincoln has left to different groups.

DR. SUSANNAH URAL, MSU PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, CIVIL WAR SCHOLAR, AND THE INAUGURAL FRANK AND VIRGINIA WILLIAMS CHAIR FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND CIVIL WAR STUDIES, REVIEWS THE COLLECTION WITH FRANK J. WILLIAMS, 39TH CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE RHODE ISLAND SUPREME COURT.

“As I mentioned earlier, it is as much about what Lincoln means to the public as it is about Lincoln himself. For example, I’ll be teaching a graduate class soon on Lincoln and America, exploring what he represented to different groups in American history over the years and what that tells us about Lincoln, the nation and our values,” she said. “The collection is also invaluable to anyone studying Lincoln and his times, the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, art and artistic interpretation relating to Lincoln, politics, government and civil leadership— the topics are endless.”

The Williams Collection adds to Mississippi State’s already impressive compilation of artifacts having to do with the Civil War. Along with the Grant Library, it paints a picture of the U.S. as it experienced one of the most turbulent eras in the nation’s history, making MSU one of the premier destinations for the study of Lincoln and the Civil War era.

Ural said she is planning to host events surrounding the memorabilia soon, with a major collaborative event being planned for 2024.

“In 2024, the Williams Collection of Lincolniana is partnering with the Grant Library to recognize the 160th anniversary of President Lincoln and General Grant’s first meeting in 1864. We’ll have spring and fall events that reflect on their relationship and why it was so successful,” Ural said. “We’re planning other things too, but you’ll have to wait to hear more on that.”

Anyone interested in joining the mailing list to keep up with events and news surrounding the collection can visit www.library.msstate.edu/williamscollection to sign up for the newsletter or send an email to wcl@library.msstate.edu. l

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT DR. SUSANNAH J. URAL

Susannah J. Ural came to Mississippi State University in 2023 when she was named the inaugural Frank and Virginia Williams Chair for Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies. She specializes in Lincolniana, the U.S. Civil War, U.S. war and society, and 19th century America. She works to promote the collection to students, scholars and educators at MSU and beyond. She also teaches Mississippi State students in courses relating to the Civil War and Reconstruction era and 19th century America.

Ural received her Ph.D. in history from Kansas State University in 2002, her master’s degree in history from Kansas State University in 1997, and her bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of Vermont in 1995. Ural has received numerous awards and grants throughout her career.

Ural continues to be active in committees and boards such as the editorial board for the Civil War Times and the Society for Military History, and she has authored many different publications. Her most recent book, “Hood’s Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy’s Most Celebrated Unit,” was published by LSU Press in 2017 and was a finalist for the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award.

John Alex Nunnery is a December 2023 Mississippi State graduate with a master’s degree in communication. He graduated from Mississippi University for Women in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in theatre with a minor in communication. He hopes to work in journalism following his graduation from Mississippi State.

DOCTOR DAWGS: MSU ALUMNI OFFER MSU STUDENTS WINNING PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS IN MEDICAL PATHWAYS

By Erin Cain

In an effort to help Mississippi State students navigate the steep and often difficult road to health care professional schools, such as medical and dental school, a group of Bulldog alumni in health care professions are prescribing Doctor Dawgs.

Created in 2016, the Doctor Dawgs program works in collaboration with MSU’s Dr. A. Randle and Marilyn W. White Health Professions Resource Center to assist MSU students interested in health care professions in bridging the gap between knowledge gained in the classroom and the application of that knowledge in real life. Doctor Dawgs connects professional doctors, dentists and other medical professionals to mentorship opportunities with MSU students aspiring to these careers.

Focused on fostering mentorship, collaboration, shadowing opportunities and more, HPRC Director and Advisor Mary Celeste Reese said the program has successfully helped—and continues to help—dozens of students make it to the next level and navigate the ever-changing medical field.

“Recruiting students to MSU to pursue their undergraduate and health care concentration is one of the university’s investment areas. We want to ensure each student has the tools, assistance, support and guidance to promote viable and competitive health care candidate applications as soon as they step onto campus,” Reese said.

She said the formation of the group was the longtime vision of the center’s chairman, Dr. Tommy Byrd, a dentist who lives in Florence.

Doctor Dawgs also places an emphasis on leadership and public service to help students strengthen their candidacy for their health care career of choice.

Reese said preparation and support are vital parts of positioning students for their health care professional school of choice, and guidance is available to help them develop a wellrounded application. She explained that successful students often have experience through shadowing, networking, championing a cause, community engagement activities, and more—which Reese said makes MSU students pursuing a health care degree “stand out above the rest in Mississippi.”

“The program helps cover vital expenses for things like MCAT prep courses, which can be very expensive, but it also does so much more than that,” Reese said. “Doctor Dawgs support our students by allowing shadowing, career advice and networking. When we put on events for our pre-medical and medical students, the Doctor Dawgs show up to support.”

Since Doctor Dawgs was created, major strides have been taken in helping students pursue their healthcare profession goals. Three endowed scholarship funds have been established, as well as a Doctor Dawgs Excellence Fund that assists future and current MSU pre-health students in successfully navigating their academic career at MSU.

“Fast forward to the 2022-2023 cohort of health care students applying for medical school. In just a few short years, which included a global pandemic, all who were assisted by the HPRC started seeing offers from other professional schools outside of the state,” Reese said. “It was that 2022-2023 cycle where Vanderbilt Medical School invited an MSU candidate to tour campus, and it wasn’t long after that the student was offered a spot at the school. Her credentials and academic excellence made it an easy offer for Vanderbilt to extend, and this particular

Dr. H. Chris Waterer, III, and his wife, Dr. Rebecca Waterer, far right, standing, both Doctor Dawg physicians, hosted M1s (first year medical students) at their home at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.

student knew her worth because she was a dedicated, driven and an extremely intelligent individual. Having the HPRC pour additional confidence into her along the way opened the door to the HPRC’s first student to attend Vanderbilt Medical School.”

The momentum has continued to accelerate as 2023-2024

MSU health care scholars have started receiving invitations from other prestigious schools, including one student who received an offer to attend Harvard Medical School.

“It was truly another moment of pride and admiration to see yet another student from MSU seek the direction of the HPRC team, mentors and staff to assist with making his decision.

Through all the supportive outlets this student had to turn to, there wasn’t anyone pushing him either way except to be open

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

minded to the tour and soak it all in,” Reese said.

“Our alumni and friends in the health care industry, our Doctor Dawgs, are difference makers and make this world a better place,” Reese said. “We want you to know that here at MSU, we not only want you here, but we also want to make you the best you can be while you are here. We want you to help us improve each year. When you get accepted into medical school, we will be there to continue applauding your effort to the next level, visiting with you to see how you are doing and taking recommendations from you, because you have gone through the whole process and can identify areas we can strengthen as we seek to help future students.” l

Starkville native Erin Cain earned her master’s degree in English from MSU in 2023. She now lives in Louisville and teaches dual credit English and essentials for college literacy at Louisville High School. In the future, she hopes to find a position at a community college in Mississippi where she will continue to teach English composition to aspiring students.

ABOVE: DOCTOR DAWGS HOSTS AN ANNUAL EVENT—“BURGERS AND BREWS”—A PRIVATE CELEBRATION AT BRENT’S DRUGS AND SODA FOUNTAIN NEAR UMMC’S CAMPUS TO CELEBRATE STUDENTS AFTER THEIR GRADUATION.

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DOCTOR DAWGS?

If you would like to learn more about how you can help the next generation of Bulldog health care professionals by becoming a Doctor Dawg and/or giving financial support, contact Sara Frederic, director of development for the College of Arts and Sciences, by email at sfrederic@foundation.msstate.edu or by phone at 662-325-3240. For additional information, visit the HPRC website at prehealth.msstate.edu.

ABOUT DR. MARY CELESTE REESE

Dr. Reese is the director of the Dr. A. Randle and Marilyn W. White Heath Professions Resource Center at Mississippi State. She also is an advisor for pre-health, pre-med and pre-dental students. She has been employed at MSU since 2000 after earning her master’s degree in biological sciences. She earned a doctorate in agricultural science education and extension from MSU. She is a past recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Advising Award from the National Academic Advising Association and an Irvin Atly Jefcoat Excellence in Advising Award. In 2011, she received the Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award from the President’s Commission on the Status of Women at MSU. To schedule an appointment with her, contact mcreese@ prehealth.msstate.edu or call 662-325-5966.

DOCTOR DAWGS HOSTED A CELEBRATION LAST SPRING AT THE MSU M-CLUB TO HONOR ALL MSU STUDENTS ACCEPTED TO MEDICAL AND DENTAL SCHOOLS.

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS:

MSU’S COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, SHACKOULS HONORS COLLEGE ENRICH STUDENTS’ COLLEGE EXPERIENCES

By Carly Pippin

Home to more than 5,000 students pursuing degrees across 14 academic departments—from natural and physical sciences to humanities and social sciences— Mississippi State University’s College of Arts and Sciences is the largest academic college at the land-grant university.

MSU also is home to the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, an academic community established in 2006. With more than 2,500 elite students from various backgrounds who represent a diversity of majors and interests, the honors college includes approximately 20% of CAS students.

The two academic powerhouses have spent years collaborating and sharing vast amounts of knowledge and material, broadening students’ prospective opportunities and creating deeper connections in various academic communities on campus. Their shared values allow the two colleges to appeal to a wide variety of students, and the units recognize the potential for students’ academic and occupational successes when they work together.

“The Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College and the College of Arts and Sciences have at their core an abiding respect

for the power of interdisciplinary inquiry that is both broad and deep,” said Tommy Anderson, honors college dean and English professor. “Both colleges believe the capacity to tackle the most pressing and challenging problems our world faces emerges only from inquiry that considers social and historical factors, as well as the technical and scientific.”

A 19-year CAS faculty member, Anderson understands the benefit of combining resources and intellect to continue fostering opportunities for students of all disciplines.

“Students who immerse themselves in a CAS curriculum that is part of an honors experience emerge ready to think collaboratively and independently,” he said. “They see communication as part of any sustainable solution, and they understand historical perspective that helps define both a problem and a solution.

“The honors college helps students define their academic or professional aspirations, and then we provide mentorship as well as financial support to help them achieve those dreams,” Anderson continued. “Those dreams, we hope, will involve high-impact experiences, such as faculty-led undergraduate research, study abroad opportunities or an internship in industry.”

Holli Seitz, an associate professor in the Department of Communication, who is affiliated with the honors college, spends time helping students achieve their goals. In addition to her professorship, she is currently a mentor to Provost Scholars in the honors college. Her ties to both colleges stem from her undergraduate days at MSU.

“From my perspective, the goals of the CAS and Shackouls Honors College are closely aligned,” she said. “Both help students learn to think critically and creatively and become well-informed citizens who can navigate and address important problems.”

Seitz also finds value in the collaboration between the colleges.

“The CAS offers a variety of opportunities that benefit and support students in honors. For example, many of

MISSISSIPPI STATE FACULTY MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH THE JUDY AND BOBBY SHACKOULS HONORS COLLEGE INCLUDE:

Tommy Anderson

Dean of the Honors College and Professor of English

Kristin Boyce Associate Professor of Philosophy

Donna Clevinger Professor of Communication

Christian Flow Assistant Professor of History

David Hoffman

Director of the Office of Prestigious External Scholarships and Associate Professor of Anthropology, Mentor to Presidential Scholars

Anthony Neal Associate Professor of Philosophy

Holli Seitz

Associate Professor of Communication and Mentor to Provost Scholars

Don Shaffer

Associate Professor of English and Mentor to Presidential Scholars

Christopher Snyder

Professor of History and Director of British Studies

Eric Vivier

Associate Professor of English

my honors students participate in study-abroad programs sponsored by departments within the CAS, such as the alternative energy course in Iceland and Scandinavia led by Department of Chemistry faculty,” Seitz said.

Anne Louise Phillips, a sophomore English major from French Camp, is experiencing success because of the CAS and the honors college. She said the collaboration offers students “a plethora of opportunities” and works for their betterment by providing courses structured to their specific needs.

“Many honors seminars are in the CAS, and a lot of its classes have honors sections. The CAS and honors college encourage students to be involved in extracurriculars and the academic community as well, emphasizing the involvement at MSU I’ve greatly appreciated,” said Phillips, who also serves as a CAS Student Ambassador.

Through her participation in both colleges, Phillips believes one way to improve the students’ experiences is to ensure enrollees are aware of the benefits of being involved with these groups.

“A lot of incoming students I’ve met don’t know about the honors college and don’t realize how much involvement there is within the CAS community,” she said. “Both colleges should continue their outreach efforts to make sure students know about the wonderful community and opportunities available.”

Seitz holds similar desires for both colleges as new students join MSU’s growing student body.

“Through continued collaboration and good communication, we can make sure that all students know about the many enrichment and educational experiences available to them in both the College of Arts and Sciences and Shackouls Honors College,” she said. l

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carthage native Carly L. Pippin earned her bachelor’s degree in communication in 2020 from MSU. After a gap year, she earned her master’s degree in English in May of 2023 from MSU. Pippin now lives in Texas with her husband and provides freelance public relations work for a new boutique in Starkville.

ABOUT DR. TOMMY ANDERSON

Tommy Anderson has served as the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College dean since 2022. Previously, he was the MSU College of Arts and Sciences associate dean for academic affairs, served as interim dean of MSU Libraries and directed the Office of Prestigious External Scholarships within the honors college. He continues to work with students from across the university to help prepare them for nationally competitive scholarships, such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Goldwater and Truman scholarships. An MSU faculty member since 2005, Anderson has taken honors college students to the University of Oxford twice to study Shakespeare, Tolkien, Lewis, medieval history, public health, creative writing, utopia fiction, comparative politics and the media, and political theory. He has published two books—“Performing Early Modern Trauma from Shakespeare to Milton” and “Shakespeare’s Fugitive Politics.” He is co-editor with Ryan Netzley of “Acts of Reading: Interpretation, Reading Practices and the Idea of the Book in John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments.”

ABOUT DR. HOLLY SEITZ

Holli Seitz is an associate professor in the Department of Communication, director of the Message Laboratory at the MSU Social Science Research Center and mentor for the Shackouls Honors College’s Provost Scholars. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from MSU in 2005 and a Master of Public Health in health behavior from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2007. She also holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania. At MSU, she has taught Introductory Communication, Elements of Persuasion, Health Communication and Research Methods courses. Her research interests include health communication, message effects, media effects, health equity and science communication.

Seitz’s health and communication expertise was used widely during the COVID-19 pandemic through frequent engagement with media and work on university committees. More recently, she engaged in health communication work on two federally funded projects––the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) and the Happy Healthy social marketing campaign, a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program education initiative.

ALUMNI-SUPPORTED SCHOLARSHIPS EXPAND HORIZONS FOR MSU COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES STUDENTS

By Carly Pippin

Study abroad opportunities, conference presentations, internships, co-ops, fieldwork, field studies, professional development and more are now easier to access for Mississippi State College of Arts and Sciences students who earn a new alumnisupported scholarship.

Formed in 2021, the Student First Undergraduate Excellence Opportunity Scholarship, in amounts of $500 to $1,000 for eligible students, offers future alumni impressive educational experiences beyond the classroom.

“The Student First Fund is a combination of financial resources given through the generosity of a group of alumni and friends from the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Sara Frederic, CAS director of development. “This funding helps offset expenses that present significant barriers for many students with financial need and who would otherwise not gain such experiences.”

The awards are made possible through CAS donors and the college dean’s office. John Rada, Malcolm and Joy Lightsey, Greg and Laurie Barker, and the Henry family are a few of the MSU alumni who have established endowed funds through the MSU Foundation, helping students combine classroom fundamentals with career-shaping experiences. At the beginning of a new fiscal year, earnings from the invested funds are then awarded to selected candidates in the form of scholarships.

“These supportive alumni recognize the importance of incorporating travel and hands-on learning experiences for students to be well-rounded and confident upon graduation as they enter their careers,” Frederic said.

With the Student First Scholarship, a vet school student went to Peru to work with exotic animals, while another shadowed doctors and learned in-depth medical practices in an Argentinian hospital. An immersive study-abroad trip to Spain with language lessons, a trip to Poland to teach English to non-English speakers, and one to Israel to the site of King Solomon’s temple are among other experiences students received through the scholarship.

MacKenzie Paul, a recent psychology and philosophy graduate from Waseca, Minnesota, used the scholarship to attend the 2023 International Convention of Psychological Science in Brussels, Belgium, where she presented her research to a group of international scholars.

“I received valuable feedback on my work, which helped me to refine my research objectives and methodology,” Paul said. “The conference was a great opportunity to discuss our work and exchange ideas. Through these connections, I was able to learn about new theories and approaches I could incorporate into my own research.”

Paul, now pursuing a Ph.D. at Baylor University, is one of many CAS students whose college experiences and work were enhanced by the commitment of alumni who value donating their resources to support Bulldog learners. l

MSU ALUMNA MACKENZIE PAUL.

MSU SOCIAL WORKER

SHIFTS CAREER PATH, SERVES ‘BURN COMMUNITY’ WITH COMPASSION, STEADFAST LOYALTY

By Sarah Nicholas

Anew Mississippi State faculty member is using her decadeslong career as a social worker in the burn-care field to shape her new academic career, and in doing so, continues to tenderly serve the greater community of those affected by these injuries—from victims and their friends and families, to members of fire services and health care organizations.

After years in the field, Dana Dillard, now an assistant professor in MSU’s Social Work Program in the Department of Sociology, decided it was time to pivot her career. The metro-Atlanta native worked as a practicing social worker from 2001—when she finished her master’s degree—through 2019.

“Academia is uniquely positioned. We can collaborate and develop connections to individuals, communities and organizations within the context of research and service. We also get the privilege of teaching and mentoring the next generation of professionals for our chosen discipline,” Dillard said. “When I first entered higher education at the University of West Florida in Pensacola in 2019, I came to the position with almost two decades of practice experience that included medical social work, school

social work and non-profit work. That experience is invaluable to the classroom because students want to hear about realworld experiences in the field.”

Through her years of direct practice with the burn community, Dillard developed relationships with other professionals across the U.S. and Canada; earned leadership roles with the American Burn Association, International Association of Burn Camps and International Association of Fire Fighters; and worked with the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. For more than 11 years, Dillard was the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation’s programs director.

“I was responsible for the development, execution and management of programs— including a weeklong summer camp for burn-injured children and their siblings—and also family weekends, young adult retreats, fire department grants and educational scholarships. I provided education and instruction in various capacities related to education, prevention, support and recovery within the context of the burn community.”

Dillard originally got her start in the burn community by way of a servicelearning course when pursuing her

master’s degree in 2000. The course allowed students to attend a weeklong summer camp for burn-injured children, and Dillard would go on to serve as its programs director.

“As a student who had no idea what I wanted to do in the field of social work, I signed up for the class intrigued by a population I knew nothing about. Quite honestly, I was nervous. I didn’t want to say or do the ‘wrong’ thing,” Dillard said. “I didn’t know that the burn community was a field I would be interested in. I just took a chance on an opportunity to get outside the classroom and explore different aspects of social work. However, the burn community and experiencing the residential camp setting were amazing. I never attended camp as a kiddo, and I realized what a rich landscape it provided to work with children and adolescents.

“Over the years, I found my work at burn camp to be incredibly rewarding,” Dillard continued. “I was able to work with youth in a way that the hospital and school system did not allow. It was an environment that I felt fit me.”

In transitioning her career to more of an academic slant, Dillard said she continued building relationships and community, remaining steadfast when

programmatic growth and leadership became challenging, and asking the questions for which there are no answers––thus informing her current research agenda.

“This job at MSU allows those worlds to coalesce in a meaningful way and even more so when I have the opportunity to engage students in these high impact environments,” Dillard said. “I used to think when I worked at the burn foundation, it would feel full circle to me––going from camp volunteer to the program’s director. Then I had this goal of getting my Ph.D. to merge my interests in teaching future social work professionals and contributing to the burn community via research and practice in a different capacity. So, then I thought that would feel full circle. Nope. Now I’ve decided my full-circle moment will be when I can engage a group of social work students in some kind of high impact service-learning activity within the burn community.”

Dillard said Mississippians should be encouraged about the future of burnrelated health care in the state after two treatment centers were established this year.

“I am optimistic for the future of the burn community in Mississippi and hope to be a resource and advocate as programs and services in the state evolve for those impacted by a burn injury,” Dillard said. “I am proud to say I am a social work professional. The opportunities are limitless if you have the vision, perseverance and commitment, and are willing to take the chance. Having almost 25 years in this profession is something I take pride in.

“It’s critical the students entering the workforce do so with their eyes open and—that whatever individuals, communities or organizations they will work with—have the strongest representation of a knowledgeable and ethical social work professional in front of them,” she continued. “Social work is grounded in social justice. It is a rewarding field, but it’s riddled with challenges from the micro to macro level. The moments I see students make connections between the classroom and real world are a gift to me as an educator.” l

ABOUT DR. DANA R. DILLARD

Dana Dillard joined the faculty in MSU’s Social Work Program in the Department of Sociology in 2022. She holds three degrees from the University of Georgia: a 2019 Ph.D. in social work, a 2001 master’s degree in social work and a 1998 bachelor’s degree in psychology. Dillard is a member of the American Burn Association and is cochair of the Burn Survivor and Reintegration/Psychosocial Special Interest Group. She also is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Georgia. Dillard was coinvestigator on a $1 million SAMHSA grant, the Northwest Florida First Responder Resiliency Project, also known as the Second Alarm Project. At MSU, Dillard teaches Seminar in Resilience, Social Work in Health Care, Social Welfare Policy, Research Methods in Social Work and Social Work with Communities and Organizations. She is an advisor for the Phi Alpha Honor Society.

The American Burn Association estimates 486,000 burn injuries are treated annually based on federal surveys to hospitals and emergency departments and may not include injuries treated in outpatient settings, private doctors’ offices and/or community centers. Of these, approximately 40,000 require hospitalization. For more information about the American Burn Association, visit http://ameriburn.org.

The Mississippi State Department of Health deemed the University of Mississippi Medical Center as an official burn center in April. Four months later, Mississippi Baptist Medical Center also received accreditation from the state health department.

On a national level, the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors offers a starting point for those impacted by a burn injury. For more, visit https://www. phoenix-society.org/.

MSU PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER INTERACTIVE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN PHYSICS, EXPLORE COLLEGE OPTIONS

By Parker Haley

For the second consecutive year, Mississippi State offered students with Autism Spectrum Disorder an energetic, interactive summer experience, possibly the only camp of its kind in the U.S.

This past June, the Physics Summer Camp for Students with ASD hosted more than a dozen participants ages 14-19 for a week of engaging handson demonstrations, seeing creativity at work in research centers and playing games that drive home scientific concepts. The students learned about nuclear physics, electricity, aerodynamics, astronomy, robotics and more, leading up to the “Physics Olympics,” the culmination of the week’s activities.

Following suggestions from the inaugural cohort of campers who participated in 2022, Ben Crider, camp director and associate professor in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said this one provided even more hands-on engagement in the second year.

“We facilitated engagement of physics topics by having our campers perform experiments or build objects

related to the topic of the day, which, for example, can be along the lines of building their own small electric motors and generators or designing air foils and testing how well they operate. This hands-on approach has resonated well with our campers. Additionally, we take our students to a laboratory or facility related to a physics topic of the day,” Crider said.

He said many places—including the MSU High Voltage Laboratory, Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, Institute for Clean Energy Technology, MaxxSouth Digital Media Center, Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering and the Rainwater Observatory at French Camp Academy—allow students to see the application of many physics topics taught by some of MSU’s field experts.

“This out-of-classroom educational experience allows our campers to engage in physics topics from a different perspective, typically much larger scale, and to see what state-of-the-art application of the topics looks like in research or as a career,” Crider said.

In the “Physics Olympics,” Crider said friendly, competitive tasks focused

on fun and socialization to end the week.

“At the end, there is a short debrief that explains what the physics topics were that related to each event and even a medal ceremony. I believe the ‘Physics Olympics’ could be expanded to involve many schools throughout Mississippi and used as a recruitment or outreach event for our department.”

In addition to giving students the best educational experience possible, the camp focuses heavily on accommodating their needs.

Crider said providing breaks, socialization and appropriate space are a top priority to ensure campers feel comfortable and enjoy their participation.

“With this in mind, we plan activities that allow students to have a common experience that facilitates relationship building, such as interaction with VR headsets at the MSU Virtual Reality Lab or gym night at the Sanderson Center, to name a few. Beyond the socialization focus, we work closely with MSU housing to provide a living space that matches our students’ needs,” he said.

Alongside well-planned accommodations and with the help of MSU Autism Liaison Program Director Jordan Spencer, the camp ensured all counselors and leaders were familiar with working with students with ASD, allowing them to foster a “communal atmosphere” for the students. Crider credits MSU colleagues Kathryn McTaggart, Abby Kendricks, Dan Gadke and Kasee Stratton-Gadke for ensuring everything from quality website design to the camp’s activities were tailored to the students.

Crider said his interest in creating the Physics Summer Camp for Students with ASD stems from years of discussion with a relative who is a speech language pathologist and specializes in working with this underserved population.

“I have heard about the incredible talents and STEM interests found in many of the students my relative works with, but also that there is an extreme lack in resources and programs designed for students with ASD,” he said.

Crider explained the camp goes beyond physics, which further distinguishes it from other activities designed for this purpose.

“Running a summer camp that has students living on site is just as much about providing an educational experience that attracts campers, as well as ensuring that campers have fun, whether they are learning in the class or spending time out of the classroom. I think our camp certainly stands unique in the way it goes about embedding a physics education experience as part of a summer camp that has a significant focus on socialization and presenting the possibilities of undertaking a degree program at a four-year university,” he said.

Crider said MSU’s resources for students with disabilities and cross-departmental collaboration to make the event a reality is a testament to how faculty and staff work to ensure participants have the best experiences possible, whether enrolled in a camp or in university coursework.

He said a primary goal of the program is to inform students of the great resources that exist at a four-year university like MSU, adding that campers and staff mutually benefitted from working with each other.

“The faculty and student counselors involved with the camp all get valuable experience in working with students with ASD. Many of our student counselors intend to work with students with ASD as part of their career path, meaning our camp provides direct experience to their intended field of expertise,” Crider said. “From a physics-teaching angle, I can certainly say that some of the methods I have learned to teach and engage students as part of the camp are things I personally plan to employ when teaching an introductory physics course in the future.”

While the annual Physics Summer Camp continues to provide for an underserved student population, Crider, the Department of Physics and Astronomy and various other MSU resources will continue to refine and enhance the campers’ experiences for coming years. With appropriate support and resources, this camp has the potential to expand to unprecedented territory and create a model for others. l

ABOUT DR. BEN CRIDER

From Mechanicsville, Virginia, Dr. Ben Crider attended the University of Richmond where he received his bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics before receiving his master’s and doctoral degrees in physics from the University of Kentucky. He joined MSU in 2017 and is currently a tenured professor. In 2019, Crider received a $680,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Grant, helping advance his nuclear physics research, as well as this camp.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Parker C. Haley is a current MSU English Composition lecturer who recently graduated with double master’s degrees in English and teaching. Before MSU, Haley attended Trevecca Nazarene University in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in philosophy. Outside of a consistent pursuit to learn, Parker, a former collegiate baseball player, enjoys watching and supporting MSU sports as well as his favorite professional teams.

MSU DOCTORAL STUDENT USES PRESTIGIOUS NSF AWARD TO ADVANCE ONLINE LEARNING RESEARCH

By Parker Haley

Oscar Ramirez Perez is making Mississippi State history as the first graduate student in the Department of Psychology to receive funding from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, supporting his research on memory effects and online education.

“I was born in the information age to two recent immigrant parents. My early childhood involved harsh realities in integrating into a culture that was very different from the one I experienced at home,” said Perez, an MSU doctoral

student in cognitive science. “This, combined with the financial hardships that came along with living in a Mexican immigrant household, meant that on the list of demands for basic survival, the quality of education of one of my parents’ four children was never near the top.”

The three-year NSF fellowship includes an annual stipend of $37,000 which Perez will use in his research regarding webcam usage in synchronous online classrooms. The prestigious award is granted to approximately 2,000 students nationally out of 13,000 applicants.

“Getting help with homework and establishing good habits for learning were not on the radar of anyone in my household,” Perez said. “We moved a total of eight times throughout my childhood, sometimes twice within the same school year. Because of this, my education was always on rocky ground. The pressures of home life sometimes made schoolwork impossible.”

Perez, a native of Salinas, California, persevered through these challenges as he pursued his interest in research by earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology

ABOVE: OSCAR PEREZ

from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2020.

“I joined the ‘Memory Lab’ at UCSC and spent a considerable amount of time investigating both theoretical and applied research questions. I designed and constructed materials for a project investigating retrieval-induced forgetting,” he said.

His undergraduate research also investigated the effects of using a camera on episodic memory, but it was suspended because of COVID-19. Perez hopes to continue this research in the future.

Perez, who expects to finish his graduate studies at MSU in 2026, said his experiences with distance education during the pandemic gave him inspiration for the research he is doing today. He recognized distance learning as a new educational trend and said synchronousstyle lectures “drastically increased” during the pandemic, and now online enrollment at many institutions is expected to increase in the next three to five years.

“Like it or not, online learning is here to stay, but the use of synchronous lectures is still under-researched, and little is known about best practices while using this format, mainly because research in distance education has focused on asynchronous formats,” Perez said.

In addition to Perez’s research being pertinent to education’s current outlook and the obstacles he has overcome, he acknowledges the traditional use of distance education, particularly for when conventional education is unavailable for underprivileged students.

“Students who do not have access to education because of the hours they work, their physical location or financial costs can use distance learning to improve their education. Minorities, those with disabilities, those with mental health problems and those in poor socioeconomic circumstances can be the first to feel the stress of major social crises. In my research and in my career path, I will make efforts directed at alleviating some of the stresses of education and creating a cushion––practices that create

success in students who otherwise might not be able to find it,” he said.

Perez’s graduate studies initially focused on the effects increasing a video’s playback speed had on students’ memory retention, as he conducted three experiments with various speeds and variables, such as notetaking.

“Watching videos at an increased playback speed can clearly impair learning, and this is a behavior that students engage in frequently, so it is worth understanding this effect to design interventions,” said Perez, who also has investigated how “webcam-on” versus “webcam-off” lectures may affect student performance.

“I found that participants did not perform any better when all students had their webcams on than when all students had their webcams off. While I have found that webcam effects can occur in certain circumstances, webcam mandates are unlikely to be the solution instructors are looking for. I will continue to investigate the effects that webcams have on learning in online classrooms and investigate alternative solutions for improving scores of students who cannot enable their webcams,” Perez said.

Perez will use the NSF funding to continue investigating playback speed, webcam usage, and any additional research he conducts. Perez’s findings for the webcam experiments are currently under review for publication, and he is writing another manuscript for submission covering his playback speed experiments. Perez hopes to expand on both lines of research once they are completed.

“I am interested in comparing participants watching videos at increased playback speeds while receiving a pretest for the material in the video to those who don’t receive a pretest. If pretesting can help decrease the cognitive load of students watching videos at faster playback speeds, it is possible that they might be able to watch these videos without speed-related impairments,” Perez said.

Perez’s foresees “evidence-based guidance” playing a decisive role for

educators to help underprivileged students.

“Educators must avoid policies like webcam mandates that can cause achievement gaps between marginalized students and their peers. My research can help close achievement gaps so that those individuals from marginalized communities have the best opportunities to prosper along with everyone else.”

Whether overcoming educational barriers at a young age, or having his research cut short during his undergraduate studies, Perez’s resilience has put him in a position to now help others adapt and achieve where they previously could not.

“My advisor, Julia Soares––an assistant professor of cognitive science––helped me with the NSF application and has provided so much mentorship. I wouldn’t be here without her,” Perez said.

Perez has facilitated research for others by mentoring undergraduate students in labs and by hosting and judging a research conference through S.T.A.R.T (Students Transforming and Advancing Research Together). Perez is the current elected representative of the Division of Access, Opportunity and Success (formerly the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Awareness––IDEA) Committee for his department and the cognitive science graduate student representative. l

“I WAS BORN IN THE INFORMATION AGE TO TWO RECENT IMMIGRANT PARENTS. MY EARLY CHILDHOOD INVOLVED HARSH REALITIES IN INTEGRATING INTO A CULTURE THAT WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE I EXPERIENCED AT HOME.”

— OSCAR PEREZ

FACULTY BOOKS

Dr. Peter DeGabriele, Associate Professor, Department of English

Drone Enlightenment: The Colonial Roots of Remote Warfare, University of Virginia Press (May 10, 2023)

Dr. Scott J. Digiulio (editor), Assistant Professor, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures

Documentality: New Approaches to Written Documents in Imperial Life and Literature, De Gruyter; 1st edition (October 24, 2022)

Gary N. Ervin, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

The Biology of Aquatic and Wetland Plants, CRC Press; 1st edition (April 26, 2023)

Lara Dodds (editor), Professor, Department of English Feminist Formalism and Early Modern Women’s Writing: Readings, Conversations, Pedagogies, University of Nebraska Press (May 1, 2022)

Melody Fisher, Associate Professor, Department of Communication

The Untold Power: Underrepresented Groups in Public Relations, Business Expert Press (July 19, 2022)

Dr. James Chamberlain (editor), Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism: Critical Debates, Springer (2022)

Shalyn Claggett, Professor, Department of English

Equal Natures: Popular Brain Science and Victorian Women’s Writing, State University of New York Press (November 2, 2023)

Megan Smith, Associate Professor, Department of English

Explicit and Implicit Learning in Second Language Acquisition, Cambridge University Press; New edition (June 23, 2022)

Renee M. Clary, Professor, Department of Geosciences

The Evolution of Paleontological Art, Geological Society of America (January 1, 2022)

Christie Collins, Lecturer, Department of English

The Art of Coming Undone, Maida Vale (April 2, 2023)

Josh Foreman, Instructor, Department of Communication

Death Along the Natchez Trace, The History Press (February 21, 2022)

Robert Thompson (editor), Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religion

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Implicit Cognition, Routledge; 1st edition (December 30, 2022)

Robert M. West, Professor and Head of the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures

Robert Morgan: Essays on the Life and Work, McFarland (June 8, 2022)

Molly Zuckerman, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Middle Easter Cultures

Emerging Infections: Three Epidemiological Transitions from Prehistory to the Present, Oxford University Press; 2nd edition (February 28, 2024)

Anthony Sean Neal, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion

Philosophy and the Modern African American Freedom Struggle: A Freedom Gaze, Lexington Books (July 20, 2022)

Nicole E. Rader, Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology

Teaching Fear: How We Learn to Fear Crime and Why it Matters, Temple University Press (January 6, 2023)

Elizabeth Ellis Miller, Associate Professor, Department of English Liturgy of Change: Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Mass Meeting, University of South Carolina Press (May 11, 2023)

Josh Foreman, Instructor, Department of Communication

Hidden History of the Mississippi Delta, The History Press (February 27, 2023)

Shane Miller (editor), Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures

The American Southeast at the End of the Ice Age, University Alabama Press (August 3, 2022)

Morgan J. Robinson, Assistant Professor, Department of History

The Language for the World: The Standardization of Swahili, Ohio University Press (November 8, 2022)

TOP TWEET

MOST WATCHED

MOST LISTENED SOCIAL MEDIA

Dr. Vasabjit Banerjee

In this episode of Vision TV, we host Dr. Vasabjit Banerjee, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, to talk about his recent publications on the Russia Ukraine War, international relations, and munitions.

Kyle McDill

We discuss Kyle’s social media presence (@thatbeardedhiker), his use of GIS to create virtual hikes and educational content, as well his love of the outdoors, his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, and his experiences with the Department of Geosciences field courses.

Our Students Tell Our Story.

MSU ALUMNA WINS PULITZER PRIZE

2014 Mississippi State graduate Anna Wolfe received a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her Mississippi Today article, “The Backchannel,” an investigative work exploring the largest embezzlement of federal funds in the state’s history.

A native of Tacoma, Washington, Wolfe received her degree in communication and was a former editor of The Reflector at MSU. She has received national recognition for her work, including the 2021 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, the 2021 Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, the 2021 John Jay/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award, the 2020 Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award and the February 2020 Sidney Award for reporting on Mississippi’s debtors prisons. She received the National Press Foundation’s 2020 Poverty and Inequality Award. She also received first place in the regional Green Eyeshade Awards in 2021 for Public Service in Online Journalism and in 2020 for Business Reporting, and the local Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Journalism in 2019 and 2018 for reporting on unfair medical billing practices and hunger in the Mississippi Delta.

Congratulations to MSU’s newest Grisham Master Teacher, Zacharias Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Awardee

In Fall 2023, two College of Arts and Sciences faculty members received two of the university’s most prestigious teaching honors.

Eric Vivier is MSU’s newest Grisham Master Teacher, while Danielle Young is this year’s Zacharias Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award winner.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum said, “These are two extremely high honors—two of the highest honors we can bestow to our faculty for their achievements in the classroom,” adding that Vivier’s and Young’s awards are considered lifetime awards.

Vivier is an associate professor of English in MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a Faculty Fellow within the Shackouls Honors College. He joined MSU’s faculty in 2014.

Young is an instructor who began teaching in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, also in the College of Arts and Sciences, in 2017. She held the prestigious role of mace bearer at the fall convocation.

Wolverton Legacy Awards, research and teaching awards presented in ‘recognition of excellence’ for College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences honored three individuals last spring with the Robert E. Wolverton Legacy Award and presented six additional research and teaching awards to faculty members for their research and scholarly commitments to the university.

Created in 2014 in honor of Wolverton, a professor of classics at MSU for more than four decades, the Wolverton Legacy Award recognizes faculty, staff and friends who have made long-term contributions to the College of Arts and Sciences and have advocated the ideals of liberal arts education.

AWARD WINNERS AT THE SPRING 2023 PRESENTATION. (PHOTO BY KARYN BROWN) FRONT ROW FROM LEFT: BEN TKACH, KATHRYN WALTERS ACCEPTING ON BEHALF OF HER MOTHER KIMBERLY WALTERS, MELODY FISHER, CARLY BAHLER, BRADEN LEAP. BACK ROW FROM LEFT: ADELE CRUDDEN, RICK TRAVIS, JOHN FORDE, JOHNA RUDZIN, BARRETT GUTTER

The 2023 Robert E. Wolverton Legacy Award winners include:

Adele Crudden, professor emeritus in MSU’s Department of Sociology.

John Forde, a professor in MSU’s Department of Communication.

Kimberly Walters, an instructor in MSU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Given to faculty whose work contributes significantly to increasing awareness of the university’s research programs and capabilities, the annual research awardees include:

Melody Fisher, an associate professor in the Department of Communication, who earned the research award in the humanities.

Braden Leap, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, who earned the research award in social and behavioral sciences.

Johna Rudzin, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences, who earned the research award in natural and physical sciences.

For outstanding teaching service, the annual teaching awardees include:

Carly Bahler, an instructor in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, who received the teaching award in the humanities.

Barrett Gutter, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Geosciences, who earned the teaching award in natural and physical sciences.

Ben Tkach, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, who received the teaching award in social and behavioral sciences.

College of Arts and Sciences

2023 Fall Faculty Award Recipients

Mississippi State’s College of Arts and Sciences announced last fall four new recipients of the Dean’s Eminent Scholar Awards honoring “exceptionally meritorious faculty who have achieved national recognition and enhanced the quality and stature of academic programs.”

Honorees include:

Ty Stafford, an assistant clinical professor of psychology, received the Phil and Kari Oldham Faculty Mentor Award.

Ling Li, associate professor of biological sciences, received the Dean’s Eminent Scholar award for the natural and physical sciences.

Courtney Thompson, an associate professor of history, received the Dean’s Eminent Scholar award for the humanities.

Diego Thompson, an assistant professor of sociology, received the Dean’s Eminent Scholar award for the social sciences.

DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES RICK TRAVIS, LEFT, PRESENTS 2023 FALL FACULTY AWARDS TO LING LI, TY STAFFORD, COURTNEY THOMPSON, AND KIMBERLY KELLY, WHO RECEIVED THE AWARD ON BEHALF OF DIEGO THOMPSON. (PHOTO SUBMITTED)

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2024 INSTITUTE FOR THE HUMANITIES FACULTY FELLOWS

Natural history, American history and celebrity culture are part of the detailed research studies underway with the newest cohort of Mississippi State University’s Institute for the Humanities Fellows.

Awarded annually to assist faculty in their research goals, the fellowship includes a $1,000 stipend and one course release in the spring to allow dedicated time for humanities-related research and writing.

JIM GIESEN

Associate Professor of History, “The Land of Cotton: Culture and Environment in the American South”

PETER MESSER

Associate Professor of History, “Dictated by Nature: Science, Theology, and Politics in Early American Natural History”

BONNIE O’NEILL

Associate Professor of English, “The Good News from Plymouth Church: The Faith, Politics, and Celebrity of Henry Ward Beecher”

BULLDOG ACHIEVERS

Congratulations to Mississippi State’s College of Arts and Sciences majors and recent graduates on their outstanding achievements!

MADISON BRODE, Memphis, senior biological sciences major

MSU’s first recipient of the prestigious Marshall Scholarship and a member of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation’s 2023 Astronaut Scholars Class

AMARI COOPER, Madison, junior biological sciences and social work double major

David L. Boren Scholarship

CHRISTOPHER JOLIVETTE, McCalla, Alabama, sophomore psychology and English double major

Fulbright UK Summer Institute Scholarship Program

LUCY MELLEN, Hattiesburg, junior geosciences and political science double major Udall Scholar

JOSH PHILLIPS, Birmingham, Alabama, junior political science and economics double major

U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship

PHILNISE PHILLIPS, Greenville, junior political science and German double major

Fellow in the Public Policy and International Affairs Program’s Junior Summer Institute

ANN OLIVIA RADICIONI, Clinton, senior political science major Rhodes Scholarship finalist

BRANNAN TISDALE, Saraland, Alabama, senior geosciences major Fulbright UK Summer Institute Scholarship Program

EMMA WADE, Decatur, Alabama, senior computer science major and biological sciences minor

MSU’s first Churchill Scholar

Brode Cooper

Mellen

Phillips

Phillips Jolivette

Radicioni Wade Tisdale

“A

Robert E. “Bob” Wolverton

—MSU President Mark E. Keenum 1925-2023

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AMBASSADORS

Abby Jemison, Amiah Allen, Anna Hathcock, Anna Katherine Cooper, Anthony Mattina, Aubrey Scott Moak, Avery Daniels, Bridget Aycock, Caroline Makamson, Chandleigh Barton, Chandler Woo, Chloe Evans, Elizabeth Keen, Erin Clifford, Greta Allen, Haley Shants, Haylee Morman, Holden Mattison, Hunter Thompson, Jacob Woods, Jamie Johns, Jane Ellen Whittington, Jordan Burns, Julie Stepp, Kasia Williams, Kennedy Turner, Kristin Wilcher, Liliana Hewitt, Maggie Muenzenmay, Mary Grace Paganucci, Megan Havlicek, Megan Marie, Natalie Plourde, Olivia Lumpkin, Paige Miller, Rileigh Campbell, Sarah Turnipseed, Scott Brown, Steven Chustz

Hannah Coleman, Admissions Coordinator, College of Arts and Sciences Mississippi State University

The College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador organization is made up of students that represent each department in the college. These students spend their time serving the college by assisting at A&S events, reaching out to prospective students and being a liaison to deans and students in the college. When you think of an A&S ambassador, think of a dedicated, passionate and encouraging student that every student on campus should strive to become.

I serve as the staff advisor to the ambassador organization, and I am honored that I get to work with such an amazing group of students. Their passion for the college and their academic endeavors continuously makes me proud. They are excelling in all areas, whether that is achieving high academic honors, starting their own student organizations or researching lifechanging solutions to positively impact our world. Being around these students will make you want to become a better version of yourself, and I believe that is what makes this group of students a true representative of the maroon and white at MSU.

CASA OFFICERS

PRESIDENT

Mary Grace Paganucci

VICE PRESIDENT

Caroline Makamson

SECRETARY

Aubrey Scott Moak

CASA Officers (left to right)

Mary Grace Paganucci, Caroline Makamson, and Aubrey Scott Moak.

Phi Beta Kappa

The Gamma of Mississippi Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society inducted more than 40 new members during the 2023 ceremony at Mississippi State University. (Photo by Grace Cockrell)

More than 40 Mississippi State seniors were inducted into the Gamma of Mississippi Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society in May 2023.

Phi Beta Kappa inductees are among the top 10% of their graduating class who have completed a broad range of liberal arts and sciences coursework, including foreign language and mathematics. Honored this spring with an induction ceremony and dinner sponsored by MSU’s Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, the students were selected for their extraordinary academic achievement in the arts and sciences.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society was founded in 1776 and is the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society. Mississippi State is among just 10% of U.S. colleges and universities granted PBK chapters. Noteworthy members include 17 U.S. presidents, 42 U.S. Supreme Court justices and more than 150 Nobel laureates.

2023 Phi Beta Kappa, Gamma of Mississippi Chapter student inductees (by hometown):

ALVARADO, Texas—Kennedy Christine Kellen, Psychology

BILOXI—Fernando Penafiel, Marketing and Spanish

BRANDON—John Martin Fox, Accounting and Economics

BRANDON—Margaret Muenzenmay, Political Science and Criminology

BURKE, Virginia—Elena Susan Palomino, Marketing and Spanish

CARROLLTON, Georgia— Blaise Bergiel, Business Economics and Spanish

COLLIERVILLE, Tennessee— Chloe Jai Beeson, Biological Sciences

COLLIERVILLE, Tennessee— Robert Skelton III, Business Economics and Spanish

COLUMBUS—Chance Aidan Lowe, Criminology

FLORA—Anna Elizabeth Pearson, Biological Sciences

FLORENCE, Alabama— Zoe Maddox, Business Administration and German

FLORENCE, Alabama—Amber Mullins, English

FLORENCE, Alabama—Luke Singletary, Spanish

FRISCO, Texas—Brooke Williams, Marketing and German

FULTON, Alabama—Braeden Everett Martin, History

HANCEVILLE, Alabama— Lindsey Lowery, Business Administration and German

HAYESVILLE, North Carolina— Megan Christine Weaver, History

HOOVER, Alabama—Abigael Childs, Marketing and Spanish

HOULKA—Darby Faith Freeman, English

JACKSON—Karter K.K. Townes, Biological Sciences

LOUISVILLE—Kaleigh Allen, English

MABEN—Lila Bigham, English

MADISON—Ashlyn Chisolm, Psychology

MADISON, Alabama—Jocelyn Dieselberg, Mathematics

MADISON, Alabama—Riley Shrode, Accounting and Spanish

MOBILE, Alabama—Jordan Moore, Political Science

MONTICELLO, Arkansas— Katherine Dickson, Marketing and French

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana— Jonathan Paul Myers, Communication

OXFORD—Katherine Cook Riley, Biological Sciences

OXFORD—Mary Marshall Waller, Marketing and Spanish

PENSACOLA BEACH, Florida— Kyla Homewood, Economics and Spanish

RIDGELAND—Annalise Claire Rome, Communication

SOUTHAVEN—Ryan Patrick McCafferty, English and Communication

STARKVILLE—McKenna Suzann Alden, Geoscience

STARKVILLE—Nestor J. Bonilla, Marketing and Spanish

STARKVILLE—Oliver Sebastian Coleman, English

STARKVILLE—Abigayle Kayla Green, English

STARKVILLE—Erin James, Biological Sciences

TUPELO—Madeline Tressie Bonds, English

TUPELO—Kelly West, Spanish and Anthropology

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama— Mary Evelyn Beavers, Finance and Spanish

VERSAILLES, Kentucky— MacKenzie Paul, Psychology and Philosophy

For a list of 2024 recipients, visit www.msstate.edu/ newsroom this summer.

2023-2024 COLLEGE OF

ARTS & SCIENCES

Dean’s Executive Advisory Board

LAURIE WILLIAMS (CHAIR)

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN COMMUNICATION, ‘79

The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Executive Advisory Board is to provide leadership and support to the dean by utilizing individual skills, financial resources, teamwork, and diversity to strengthen the academic infrastructure, faculty, and facilities of the College of Arts and Sciences and Mississippi State University.

DR. RALPH ALEWINE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN PHYSICS, ‘68

DR. FRED CORLEY

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY, ‘68

DR. WILLIAM “BILL” HULETT

FRIEND OF THE COLLEGE

HANK JOHNSTON

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MATHEMATICS, ‘65

MALCOLM LIGHTSEY

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MATHEMATICS, ‘61

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MATHEMATICS, ‘63

DR. KATRINA POE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, ‘92

MYNA DICKERSON SOWELL

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN COMMUNICATION, ‘91

CINDY STEVENS

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, ‘83

DR. RANDY WHITE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY/PRE-MED, ‘66

DR. DAVID WIGLEY

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN SOIL SCIENCE, ‘77

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY, ‘79

TOMMIE CARDIN

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, ‘83

PAUL KINSEY

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, ‘87

DR. JOHN RADA

FRIEND OF THE COLLEGE

EMPOWERING Minds to Forge a Better World

Hail State and all my sincere gratitude,

Sara Jurney Frederic ’08, ’10, ’11 Director of Development College of Arts & Sciences

Dear Alumni and Friends,

2023 was a phenomenal year in the College of Arts and Sciences and we have utilized gifts from our generous alumni and friends in ways that position us to take care of what matters and create lasting waves far into the future. Today’s world presents us with a plethora of uncertainties we face daily. This magazine is just a sample of the many ways we are working hard create greatness in the face of obstacles. In the College of Arts and Sciences, we impact students by providing them academic degrees that allow them to go forth into the world and make a difference. Also, we strive to assist our work family in creating an environment faculty and staff enjoy and in which they thrive professionally.

On the alumni front, we share in this edition of Vision magazine about two Mississippi authors and publishers with MSU degrees whose creativity today shines a spotlight on this great state. We saw an up close and personal side of Doctor Dawgs, learning how these MSU alums engage with today’s collegians and help them spark their futures. And we learned about a MSU alumni whose career as a fireman was directly impacted by his degree in philosophy.

It is a true testament to the devotion and compassion of our alumni and friends who support today’s MSU students––without even knowing them personally––by establishing scholarship support through the Student First Scholarship. This support has allowed our students to expand their horizons, both at home and abroad. Numerous value-added experiences were awarded this year because of the kindness of you, our alumni and friends.

Throughout our 14 departments, I continually see passionate faculty members going above and beyond for their students, and continue to be amazed at the experiences they offer our young learners. Attracting topnotch faculty to this university is a goal of ours in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Because of the generosity of alumni like you, the College of Arts and Sciences is able to partner with this generation of students as they are trained in areas that will benefit us all in the future. Your continued support provides valuable resources, allowing our students and faculty to thrive through all stages of their academic journeys.

As we settle into another year at the greatest university, we are continually thankful for your support and the joy you bring to us. Please come visit us on campus soon. We cannot wait to welcome you back home!

Dr. Ralph & Mrs. Betty Alewine

Bezos Family Foundation

W. K. Kellogg Foundation

Dr. & Mrs. A. Randle White

Dr. Sam Maxwell

American Chemical Society

Mr. John J. Trenkle

Ms. Nancy Gillis

Dr. & Mrs. Larry R. Grillot

Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation

Childrens Advocacy Center Inc.

Brigadier General Walter & Mrs. Mary K. Bryan

Dr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Baumann

Mr. & Mrs. Malcolm B. Lightsey, Sr.

Dr. Amanda L. Strickland

Dr. Nicole E. Strickland

Mr. Mark Worthey

Mr. Scott Bergeson

Mr. & Mrs. J. Harry Adams

Mr. Homer F. Wilson, Jr.

Keith & Camille Young

Mr. Michael C. Pace

Mr. & Mrs. Henry Shurlds, III

Dr. Stephen D. Shaffer

Dr. & Mrs. Daniel B. Stevens

Mr. Nicholas Hodges

John M. & Myna Dickerson Sowell

Drs. Karen & William Hulett

Dr. Dale G. Read, Sr.

Dr. & Mrs. Paul F. Jacobs

Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Olin McBride, Sr.

Mr. Robert Gebbia

Mrs. Anita Bologna

Mr. Andrew D. Evans

Mrs. Rosemary Seago

Mr. Austin Haynes

LGTBQ Fund of Mississippi

Laura & Wesley Holland

Mrs. Jeanne R. Boykin

Dr. Christopher L. Behr & Mrs. Bette L. Behr

Rosemore Family Foundation Inc.

The G. V. Sonny Montgomery Foundation

Dr. & Mrs. Gerald A. Emison

Ms. Nina Gutin

Dr. & Mrs. William C. Hamilton, Jr.

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES DONOR LIST

The following list includes our generous alumni and friends who support the college

Mr. & Mrs. F. Ewin Henson, III

Dr. David E. Wigley & Dr. Dana L. Fox

Mr. & Mrs. Gus Colvin, Jr.

Dr. & Mrs. Robert McMillen

Mr. & Mrs. William E. Covington, III

Mr. & Mrs. Steven L. Grizzle

Ms. Cynthia M. Stevens & Mr. Linwood Cotman

Drs. Richard & Patricia Weddle

Mississippi Forestry Association

Mr. & Mrs. Alan C. Geolot

Governor Haley Barbour & Mrs. Marsha D. Barbour

Dr. & Mrs. Stephen Klein

Mrs. Paula C. Mabry

Mr. Steven L. Mayo

Mr. & Mrs. Lee B. Seago

Ms. Katharine Sheeler

Drs. Chris & Rebecca Waterer

Dr. & Mrs. Michael Thorne

American Psychological Association

Dr. Fred G. Corley, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Saxon Dasher

Dr. & Mrs. John D. Davis, IV

Dr. & Mrs. Alan I Marcus

Dr. & Mrs. Alan Meierhoefer

Dr. John B. Rada

Ms. Grace Keyes

Birmingham Jewish Federation

Mrs. Laurie R. Williams

Mr. Mark Sivik

Mr. Chester A. Tapscott, III

Dr. Mitchell E. Berman

Dr. Sue C. Lauderdale

American Advertising Federation District 7

Dr. F. Perna Carter

Dr. & Mrs. Thomas R. Byrd

Mrs. Page D. Dickerson

Mrs. Jean W. Ferguson & Dr. Joseph L. Ferguson

Dr. & Mrs. Edward E. Rigdon

Drs. Timothy & Katie Thomas

Mr. Everett T. Culpepper

Dr. & Mrs. W. Lawrence Croft

Mrs. Mary K. Keyer & Mr. John Keyer

Vanguard Charitable

Mr. & Mrs. Jefferson P. Skelton

Dr. & Mrs. Barry W. Herring

Ms. Dorothy S. Billingsley & Mr. Robert A. Stephenson

Mr. J. Edgar Clark

Dr. & Mrs. David Cooper

Mr. Anding Fan

Dr. Rachael W. Faught

Mr. & Mrs. Samuel P. Guyton

Dr. Everette I. Howell, Jr.

Mr. David A. Jobes

Kevin’s Song

Ms. Cheryl A. King

Mr. & Mrs. Kris Moore

Dr. & Mrs. Kelly R. O’Neal, Jr.

Ms. Susan C. Palmer

Mr. & Mrs. Ernie Plummer

Dr. Svein Saebo

Dr. Howard E. Shook, Jr.

Dr. & Mrs. Stephen Tartt

Mr. Samuel A. Twedt

Dr. James & Mrs. Linda Williamson

Mr. Craig D. Foster

Dr. & Mrs. Ben Sanford, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Kleckley

Ms. Barbara H. Taylor

Drs. John & Connie Forde

MS Rainbow Holdings LLC

Mr. Byron R. Dong & Dr. Tracy L. Dong

Ms. Josephine Au

Dr. Mary Jo Craine

Drs. Joseph & Judith Davenport

Mrs. Carol R. Elliott

Mr. & Mrs. John P. Elliott

First Presbyterian Church

Col. Debbie L. Gibbs

Dr. & Mrs. Charles Guyton

Ms. Amber L. Guz

Ms. Laura Hardin

Mr. & Mrs. White Gan Jee

Mr. Michael A. Johnson

Mr. & Mrs. Robert D. King

Mr. & Mrs. Neal A. Konstantin

Konstantin Family Foundation

Dr. & Mrs. Robert T. McAdory, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Julius McIlwain

Mr. & Mrs. Michael McWherter

Ms. Blanche Moore

Ms. Patricia G. Moseley

Mr. & Mrs. Peter C. Salvatore

Mr. & Mrs. William D. Seagrove

The Lisa Thomason Revocable Trust

Mr. William & Ms. Amy Weiskopf

Dr. Deadric T. Williams

Ms. Amy Tuck

Mr. & Mrs. William D. Vanderbrink

Mr. & Mrs. Robert S. Banks

Mr. & Mrs. Robert K. Barnett

Mr. & Mrs. Laurence Mellen

Dr. & Mr. Josh A. Sorrell

Mr. & Mrs. Paul D. Speyerer

Mr. Nathan H. Elmore

Mr. & Mrs. Todd Misna

Mr. & Mrs. Michael Bograd

Dr. Clark Cutrer

Ms. Nancy P. Farmer

Mr. Chad M. Jones

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Lake

Ms. Mary S. Runions

Mrs. Jennifer D. Schroeder & Mr. David L. Schroeder

Mr. & Mrs. Eddie Thames, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. William S. Watkins

Mr. & Mrs. Jim Berscheidt

Honorable & Mrs. Jerry Davis

Mr. Jeffrey W. Hardy

Dr. Charles Menifield

Dr. & Mrs. David H. Irwin, Jr.

Dr. & Mrs. Byron Clay May

Dr. Yancy B. McDougal

Mr. & Mrs. John J. McGeehan

Mr. James Ray Mozingo

Mr. James H. Rule & Mrs. Lettye A. Rule

Mr. & Mrs. Larry E. Sanders

Ms. Lisa Thomason

Dr. & Mrs. Dennis Dale Truax

Mr. Alan L. Williams & Dr. Lilian H. Hill

Rev. Dr. Richard C. Nourse, Jr.

Dr. Kathryn Barbier

Dr. & Mrs. James A. Bennett

Ms. Claire M. Carter

Mr. & Mrs. Brent J. Cox, III

Mr. & Mrs. Herman L. Crout, Jr.

Mrs. Carol T. Dean

Mr. & Mrs. Tom H. Fisher

Ms. Julie S. Fleming

Mr. Elbert R. Hilliard

Dr. & Mrs. Donald W. Jackson

Jackson Family Dentistry of Vicksburg PLLC

Mr. & Mrs. William E. May

Dr. & Mrs. George G. Murphy

Mr. Michael E. Richardson & Mrs. Michelle B. Richardson

Mr. & Mrs. James D. Rowe

Mr. Robert H. Walker V

Mr. & Mrs. Samuel E. Jaudon

Ms. Deidra Anderson-White, Ph.D

Mr. Earl B. Brand, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Dorsey Carson, Jr.

Ms. Jennifer Marie Daniels

Dr. Matthew Egbe

Mr. & Mrs. William A. Friday

Mr. & Mrs. Steven Killen

Mr. Julio C. Rangel

Mr. James C. Rybolt & Ms. Carrie C. Rybolt

Dr. Daniel B. Gingerich

Dr. Ty Abernathy

Mr. Jonathan K. Barden

Dr. & Mrs. Kyle S. Bateman

Ms. Mary E. Benincasa

Mr. & Mrs. John M. Black, Jr.

Dr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Concolino

Mrs. Virginia D. Croce

Col. & Mrs. Jeffery L. Donald

Dr. & Mrs. Philip Doolittle

Dr. & Mrs. John William Elliott

Mrs. Nancy C. Frederick

Dr. Nina L. Glasgow & Mr. David L. Brown Glo

Mrs. Barbara J. L. Hamilton

Indianola Insurance Agency, Inc.

Mr. & Mrs. John P. Jaap, Jr.

Mr. James E. Jackson, III

Mrs. Rebecca Harbor Jones

Mrs. Brandilyn M. Bates-Langley

Ms. Carol J. Levy

Lifepath Legacy LLC

Mr. Ryan O. MacKie

Mr. Kenneth D. May

Mrs. Angela B. McCarty & Mr. Morgan McCarty

Mr. Claiborne McDonald, IV & Mrs. Carolyn S. McDonald

Mr. Barry G. McMullan

Ms. Michelle Moorhead

Mr. Nicolas Oakey-Frost

Mr. & Mrs. Stanley S. Owen

Dr. Earl B. Parker, Jr., PhD

Dr. Daryl G. Pitts & Mrs. Janice Pitts

Ms. Margaret E. Pitts

Ms. Joyce A. Prowell

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Reese

Mr. Erik Reinbergs

Mr. & Mrs. Henry E. Roberson

Mr. Robert R. Roberts, Jr.

Dr. John C. Rodgers

Mr. & Mrs. Tommy G. Sanders

Dr. Kathleen M. Sherman-Morris & Mr. John A. Morris

Ms. Annie M. Sizer

Mr. & Mrs. Ronnie Sleeper, Jr.

Mrs. Ann Ardahl Smith

Ms. Sabrina A. Smith

Dr. Steven J. Stack

Mrs. Franceska Kyle Sybil

Mrs. Alice M. Walters

Mrs. Stacy A. Weiss & Mr. Brad L. Weiss

Mrs. Dia L. Welch & Mr. Dennis C. Welch

Mr. Fuchang Yin

Mr. Caleb E. Zumbro

Dr. & Mrs. Richard C. Raymond

Mr. Jonathan L. Jackson

Ms. Danette C. Gibbs

Mr. & Mrs. Kirk C. Shaw

Mr. Arville O. Slaughter

Mr. & Mrs. Billy B. Wilemon, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen R. Kifer

Dr. Gensheng Shi

Mr. Steven W. Andrews

Ms. Martha F. Barnett & Mr. Ledon Hitch

Ms. Nichole R. Becker

Mr. Samuel F. Buchanan

Mrs. Cathy Butler

Ms. Lauren P. Butler

Ms. Mallorie C. Butler

Ms. Valerie Collier

Mr. Joshua R. Dillingham

Ms. Dianna N. Dollar

Ms. Jessica J. Foltin

Griffie Law Firm PLLC

Mr. & Mrs. Patrick F. Guyton

Mr. George M. Henry

Dr. & Mrs. Donald Hunt

Mr. & Mrs. W. Dan Jee

Mr. & Mrs. James A. Karel, Jr.

Mr. Lincoln Kern

Mr. James M. Kieslich

Mr. & Mrs. Alan Kurtzberg

Dr. Tianyu Li

Ms. Jessica M. Lindsey

Mr. Michael H. Logue

Dr. & Mrs. Treg M. Long

Mrs. C. V. Mackay & Mr. Keith Mackay

Ms. Callie A. McCarty

Mr. & Mrs. William R. Morgan

Major & Mrs. Tommie Ray, Jr.

Mr. Thomas E. Roberts, Jr. & Mrs. Charlotte

M. Cheney

Mr. & Mrs. Jud Skelton

Ms. Deborah G. Smith

Dr. & Mrs. Andrzej Sygula

Ms. Anna Takaku

Mr. & Mrs. Bobby P. Taylor

Mr. & Mrs. Jeffery A. Williams

Dr. Lee E. Williams, II

DEPARTMENT HEADS & DIRECTORS

Aerospace Studies

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Evans

African American Studies

Director Donald M. Shaffer, Jr.

Anthropology & Middle Eastern Cultures

Interim Department Head Jimmy Hardin

Biological Sciences

Department Head Angus Dawe

Chemistry

Interim Department Head Giselle Thibaudeau

Classical & Modern Languages and Literatures

Department Head Robert West

Communication

Department Head Terry Likes

English

Interim Department Head Lara Dodds

Gender Studies

Director Kimberly Kelly

General Liberal Arts

Advisor Melanie Loehwing

General Science

Advisor R. Torsten Clay

Geosciences

Department Head John C. Rodgers

History

Department Head Alan I. Marcus

Interdisciplinary Studies

Director of Academic Relations for BSIS Kasondra Harris and BSIS Advisor Kate Sawaya

Mathematics & Statistics

Department Head Mohsen Razzaghi

Military Science

Lieutenant Colonel Jason R. Posey

MSU Meridian

Division Head of Arts and Sciences Richard V. Damms

Philosophy & Religion

Department Head Robert Thompson

Physics & Astronomy

Interim Department Head Jeff Winger

Political Science & Public Administration

Department Head Brian Shoup

Psychology

Department Head Mitchell Berman

Sociology

Department Head Nicole Rader

Cobb Institute

Director Jimmy Hardin

Institute for the Humanities

Director Julia Osman

John C. Stennis Institute of Government

Executive Director Joseph “Dallas” Breen

PROMOTIONS

Anthropology & Middle Eastern Cultures

Edmond A. Boudreaux, III ............... Promoted to Professor

Biological Sciences

Thomas L. Holder Promoted to Instructor II

Evan L. Kaplan Promoted to Instructor II

Victoria J. McCurdy .................... Promoted to Instructor II

Ling Li ........... Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Ying Wang ..... Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Matthew W. Brown .......................... Promoted to Professor

Donna M. Gordon ........................... Promoted to Professor

Justin A. Thornton Promoted to Professor

Classical & Modern Languages and Literature

Anna M. Debicka ........................ Promoted to Instructor II

Amie K. Russell ........................... Promoted to Instructor II

Rosa E. Vozzo .............................. Promoted to Instructor II

Communication

Kelli M. Anthony Promoted to Instructor II

Karyn L. Brown Promoted to Instructor II

Cheryl R. Chambers Promoted to Instructor II

Amy B. Fountain ......................... Promoted to Instructor II

Meaghan B. Gordon .................... Promoted to Instructor II

Melanie M. Harris ....................... Promoted to Instructor II

Amy W. Knight ........................... Promoted to Instructor II

English

LaToya W. Bogard Promoted to Instructor II

Catherine H. Doughty Promoted to Instructor II

William T. Garner........................ Promoted to Instructor II

Ashley B. Leonard ........................ Promoted to Instructor II

Claire C. Sheperis ........................ Promoted to Instructor II

Emily J. Stinson ........................... Promoted to Instructor II

Jessica M. Thompson ................... Promoted to Instructor II

Leslie A. Voller Promoted to Instructor II

Elizabeth E. Miller ............. Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Shalyn R. Claggett ............................ Promoted to Professor

Geosciences

Amy P. Moe-Hoffman ................. Promoted to Instructor II

Lindsey Morschauser Poe ............. Promoted to Instructor II

Gregory J. Nordstrom .................. Promoted to Instructor II

Barrett F. Gutter.. Promoted to Associate Teaching Professor

Varun G. Paul .................... Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Mathematics & Statistics

Robert S. Banik ........................... Promoted to Instructor II

W. Jacob Tschume ....................... Promoted to Instructor II

Kimberly W. Walters .................... Promoted to Instructor II

Qian Zhou ........................ Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Philosophy & Religion

Albert F. Bisson Promoted to Instructor II

Physics & Astronomy

Gombojav Ariunbold......... Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Prabhakar Pradhan............. Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Benjamin P. Crider Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Political Science & Public Administration

Leslie J. Baker .............................. Promoted to Instructor II

Carolyn E. Holmes ............ Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Thessalia Merivaki Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Benjamin Tkach Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Psychology

Hilary DeShong Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Arazais D. Oliveros ............ Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Emily S. Stafford ...Promoted to Associate Clinical Professor

Robert J. Moss .................................. Promoted to Professor

Michael R. Nadorff ........................... Promoted to Professor

Sociology

Jada N. Johnson Promoted to Instructor II

Veronica H. Knowles ................... Promoted to Instructor II

Kimberly C. Kelly ............................. Promoted to Professor

RETIREES

Department of Geosciences

Cynthia Bell, Administrative Assistant

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Susan Galloway, Administrative Assistant

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Dr. Dale Lynn Holt, Professor

Department of Chemistry

Laura Smith, Instructor

Department of Biological Sciences

Emily Gay Williamson, Instructor

Department of Biological Sciences

Martha Wilson, Academic Coordinator

As the largest college on campus, it is our privilege to showcase all that it has to offer. In order to do that, we need your assistance. Past issues have featured outstanding accomplishments of faculty, students, alumni, and organizations—their accomplishments, awards, and how each is making a difference on campus and in the community. If you have something that should be included, please send it to us!

Send an e-mail or letter to:

Karyn Brown

Assistant Dean for Communication and Media

kbrown@deanas.msstate.edu