Articles in "Arts and Letters"

A history graduate student at The University of Southern Mississippi will soon be joining an elite team of researchers as they attempt to learn more about the fate of American soldiers from World War II missing in action in the South Pacific since the war ended in 1945.

Mark Rigsby, associate professor in The University of Southern Mississippi’s Art and Design department and director of the Museum of Art was selected as one of America’s finest artists and craftsmen and recently exhibited at the 31^st annual Smithsonian Craft Show on April 24-29 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.  Martha Stewart served as honorary chairman and special guest.

Dr. Philip C. Kolin, University Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts and Letters at The University of Southern Mississippi and editor of the Southern Quarterly, was recently interviewed by Peter Menkin, religion writer for both the San Francisco Examiner and the Church of England Newspaper.

The Speech and Debate team of The University of Southern Mississippi competed at the 100^th anniversary tournament and convention of Pi Kappa Delta National Honor Society, March 13-17 on the campus of Webster University in St. Louis. The field of competition included 86 colleges and universities from across the U.S., with seven students representing Southern Miss at the tournament.

The University of Southern Mississippi School of Mass Communication and Journalism recently earned the Minority Recruitment and Retention Award from the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA).

University of Southern Mississippi students recently won awards in Jackson at the Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters annual contest honoring the best in broadcast journalism in the state for 2012.

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Department of Dance will host the second residency of the spring semester with Maryland-based Adrienne Clancy and her company ClancyWorks. Now through April 21, the well-respected dance company returns to teach additional master classes and partner with Southern Miss dance majors in K-12 educational outreach events.

Just over two months ago, the Hattiesburg area was devastated by a deadly F-4 tornado. The School of Music at Southern Miss faced considerable losses but experienced an overwhelming outpouring from the community and the world.

No need to ask University of Southern Mississippi junior Brandon Hersey if he believes dreams will come true. The Hattiesburg native is living one now as a winner of the prestigious Truman Scholarship.

Hersey is the University’s third Truman Scholar and the first African American student at Southern Miss to receive the coveted prize. Marie Holowach Federer won in 2011 and Lance Brown, competing in his home state of Alabama, was the first recipient in 1999. Hersey is one of only 62 national finalists chosen for the award and the lone student representing a Mississippi university.

Dr. Marie Danforth, a professor of anthropology at The University of Southern Mississippi and one of the country’s leading bioarchaelogists, was recently awarded the Mississippi Humanities Council’s Humanities Scholar Award. 

What started as a foggy February morning at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park campus in Long Beach is now a lasting image made into a mural representing the scenic photography of noted Biloxi Sun Herald photographer and Southern Miss alumnus, Tim Isbell.

Inspiration and beauty is what Isbell hopes students, faculty and staff gain from seeing the foggy oaks image as they walk to and from class. “I hope the mural at the Gulf Park campus gives people a sense of the beauty of the campus and the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” he said.