University Forum to Explore Religion, Politics, Literature and Music This Fall

Tue, 09/08/2026 - 09:58am | By: David Tisdale

Insights into Christianity and politics, ideas from a celebrated Mississippi author and screenwriter, and an iconic 20th-century rock band promise a thoughtful, rhythmic tone for the fall 2026 University Forum series at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Presented by the Southern Miss Honors College with support from the Office of the President, the first two fall University Forum presentations will be held at historic Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus. The third event, which will feature a speaker and a performance, will be held at downtown Hattiesburg’s iconic Saenger Theater.

The schedule is as follows:

Dr. Robert Jones | Tuesday, Sept. 15 | 6:30 p.m. | Bennett Auditorium
Jones, a native Mississippian, is president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). A graduate of Mississippi College, now Mississippi Christian University, Jones has written extensively on politics, culture and religion for such noted publications as The Atlantic, TIME and Religion News Service. He also has been a featured guest expert for national media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others.

A New York Times bestselling author, Jones’ works include The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy in American Christianity, winner of the 2021 American Book Award, and The End of White Christian America, which earned him the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Religion in 2019. His newest book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation after the Christian Turn Against Democracy, will be published just one week before his visit to Southern Miss.

Jones also authors the Redeeming Democracy newsletter, which features research and analysis on religion, racial justice, and the moral work of democracy, and serves on the national program committee for the American Academy of Religion. He is a past member of the editorial boards for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion and Politics and Religion, a journal of the American Political Science Association.

Michael Farris Smith | Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 6:30 p.m. | Bennett Auditorium
Smith is an award-winning author, screenwriter and musician who has published eight books. His novels have earned Best of the Year list honors from Esquire, NPR, The Oprah Magazine and numerous other outlets, as well as Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover and Amazon Book of the Month selections.

Smith has written screen adaptations for two of his novels, including Desperation Road, a top 10 international release on Netflix; and The Fighter, titled for the screen as Rumble Through the Dark, hailed by The New York Times as "an answered prayer of style and substance." With his band, The Smokes, Smith recorded Lostville, produced by Grammy nominee Jimbo Mathus.

David Lemieux | Tuesday, Nov. 17 | 6:30 p.m. | Saenger Theater, Downtown Hattiesburg
In partnership with the City of Hattiesburg, the Saenger Theater and Rock 104, University Forum will bring David Lemieux, the audiovisual archivist and legacy manager of the Grateful Dead, to downtown Hattiesburg. Lemieux was the supervising music producer on the Martin Scorsese-produced, career-spanning documentary about the iconic band, Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead.

Lemieux has produced scores of Grateful Dead CD and DVD releases for nearly three decades, many of which have been certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the RIAA, as well as several Grammy-nominated boxed sets. He has produced 52 of the Grateful Dead’s world-record 66 Billboard Top 40 albums. Since 2007, he has hosted a daily show on the SiriusXM Grateful Dead Channel titled “Today in Grateful Dead History."

Following Lemieux’s presentation, The Stolen Faces, a band from Nashville, Tenn., that has been covering selections from the Grateful Dead’s catalog of hits since 2014, will perform.

“Religion, politics, music – those three topics are often in the mix of daily conversation,” said Dr. Mac Alford, director of University Forum. “We’re so fortunate to have three respected guest speakers and a musical group considered to be experts and talented in these arenas that arguably dominate our everyday lives.”

Honors College Dean Dr. Joyce Inman said this semester’s Forum lineup is unexpectedly exciting with the unique collaborations led by Dr. Alford, and praised his work with campus and community constituents.

“We’re particularly pleased to be partnering with the City of Hattiesburg in hosting one of our presentations and look forward to hearing from all of our University Forum presenters,” Inman further noted. “I congratulate Dr. Alford for orchestrating this compelling lineup of presenters, and our campus and local communities look forward to welcoming them to Hattiesburg and Southern Miss.”

Learn more about University Forum.

About the Honors College
Established in 1976, the Southern Miss Honors College was the first honors college in Mississippi and the sixth-oldest public honors college in the nation. The college is home to almost 500 scholars and administers University Forum, the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research, Nationally Competitive Programs and Awards, and the USM Beckman Scholars Program. The Honors College provides enriched academic opportunities for high-achieving students through interdisciplinary learning, research and community engagement.