Mississippi Humanities Council Newsletter - September 2019
Executive Director's Message
Mapping our Work

Every two years the Mississippi Humanities Council produces a biennial report. In addition to listing our donors and our financial information, the report includes a description of the programs we develop and fund. For the last several reports, the centerpiece has been a map of our state with detailed information about where we have sponsored programs. This year, thanks to the help of our talented graphic designers, our new report will even fold up like a roadmap.

Dr. Stuart Rockoff
MHC Executive Director
Perhaps the most useful part of preparing the report is doing the research for the map. Which counties have we reached? Perhaps more importantly, where have we not had an impact? As each staff member compiled the data for their program area and forwarded it to me, I was able to see the big picture of our work come into focus.

Over the past two years, we have given grants to organizations in 44 different Mississippi counties. Our speakers bureau programs have been held in 40 different counties. Every year, we sponsor Humanities Teacher Award lectures in 27 different counties. By far, we enjoyed our largest reach with the Mississippi Encyclopedia Online, a joint initiative between the MHC and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. Thanks to Google Analytics, we have very precise data about where our users live. During its first 14 months of existence, the Mississippi Encyclopedia Online was visited by people in 79 different Mississippi counties. Issaquena, Benton, and Lawrence are the only counties yet to visit the website (although there are histories of these counties in the encyclopedia).

Taken together, MHC programs have reached over 96% of Mississippi counties over the past two years. While we are quite pleased with this number, we are not complacent. For several rural counties, the Mississippi Encyclopedia Online was the only MHC program that reached them. We are actively looking for program partners in those areas that have not received a grant, used our speakers bureau, or hosted a family reading program or traveling Smithsonian exhibit.

This fixation on reaching every county is not just for the sake of filling a map in our biennial report. Our motto is "the humanities are for everyone," and it reflects the MHC's core value: that the insights of the humanities should be accessible to all Mississippians, no matter where they live.

This fixation on reaching every county is not just for the sake of filling a map in our biennial report. Our motto is "the humanities are for everyone," and it reflects the MHC's core value: that the insights of the humanities should be accessible to all Mississippians, no matter where they live. Although we are not a government agency, we were created to serve the people of Mississippi.We judge our success as an organization on the depth and breadth of this service.

In preparing this biennial report, we also counted how many different organizations we worked with over the past two years. We were overwhelmed by the total number: 396! These partners range from colleges, university humanities centers, museums, and libraries, to a wide array of nonprofit organizations and state agencies. As a small organization in a small state, we are quite proud of this impressive number, which highlights how collaboration is at the center of our work. With only five staff members, the MHC could not have anywhere near the reach it does without these vital partnerships.

We are finishing up the biennial report this week and will share it with our key stakeholders across Mississippi. We will also add it to our website and put out copies at MHC programs to introduce people to our work and show them the impact we have in Mississippi. We hope you pick up a copy - we are quite proud of it.
Time Running Out to Apply to Host Smithsonian 'Crossroads' Exhibit

Applications to host the Smithsonian's newest Museum on Main Street exhibit "Crossroads: Change in Rural America" are due by September 30. The exhibition, a partnership between the Smithsonian and the Mississippi Humanities Council, arrives in Mississippi September 2020 and will tour the state through June 2021.

"Crossroads" explores how rural American communities changed in the 20th century. From sea to shining sea, the vast majority of the United States landscape remains rural with only 3.5% of the landmass considered urban. Since 1900, the percentage of Americans living in rural areas has dropped from 60% to 17%. The exhibition looks at that remarkable societal change and how rural Americans responded. Despite the massive economic and demographic impacts brought on by these changes, America's small towns continue to creatively focus on new opportunities for growth and development.

Six communities around the state will be selected to host the exhibition free of charge.
"Crossroads" will serve as a community meeting place for conversations about how rural America has changed. With the support and guidance of the MHC, these towns will develop complementary exhibits, host public programs, and facilitate educational initiatives to raise people's understanding about their own history, the joys and challenges of living rural, how change has affected their community, and prompt discussion of goals for the future.

Exhibition specifics and more details about the application process can be found here. Applications are due by September 30, 2019, and site selections will be announced October 15.

Learn More
'Unpacked: Refugee Baggage' Opens at MSU Sept. 30

Mohamad Hafez, a Syrian-born artist and architect, will combine his expertise in sculpture and structural design to humanize the word "refugee" in a series of exhibits and public programs hosted by the Mississippi State University Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures Sept. 30 through Nov. 1. The programs are supported by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Hafez's art presents a very personal view of what it is like for an upper-middle class Damascene family to become forced migrants. He creates mixed-and multi-media sculptures representing Middle Eastern streetscapes and buildings besieged by civil war, contrasted with inspirational verses from the Quran, audio recordings from his homeland, and other elements of his Islamic heritage.

His sculptures, Hafez says, are how he "creatively weeps" for the loss of culture and architecture in his home country. He told The Guardian in a recent interview, "I feel it's my duty to be doing this work. It's not a privilege. It's not a luxury. It's a duty."

The public is invited to join Mississippi State University for the opening of this multiĀ­-media installation. Hafez will be on hand for the opening, along with Iraqi-born writer and speaker Ahmed Badr, himself an Iraqi refugee, who has collected and curated the stories of real people whose voices are embedded with the art.

Unpacked: Refugee Baggage is on view in the Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery from September 30 through November 1. Admission is free.

In addition to the exhibit, MSU is coordinating other events related to Hafez' visit, including a storytelling workshop by his collaborator, Badr, underscoring the significance of mobilizing youth through art and storytelling. The workshop will take place at the Starkville Community Theater Oct. 1 and is also open and free to the public.
The Ideas on Tap education series continues tonight with a program in Meridian! For a full list of remaining programs in the series, visit our  online calendar.
Chas David Evans (center) was the 2019 awardee from East Central Community College, pictured here with Molly McMillan and Dr. Billy Stewart.
MHC Will Honor Humanities Instructors in 2020

Each year, the Mississippi Humanities Council recognizes outstanding instructors at our state institutions for higher learning. Humanities faculty at Mississippi's colleges and universities are engaged in significant work in their classrooms, cultivating imagination in their students and helping them develop the problem-solving and critical-thinking skills they will need to succeed in their personal lives and as participants in a democratic society.

These instructors may only be selected by their college president or academic dean, based on the excellence of their humanities work in the classroom. Each nominee will receive a cash award from the Mississippi Humanities Council and will prepare and deliver a public lecture on a humanities subject in early 2020. All programs are free and open to the public.

 A full listing of programs, titles and dates will be available on the MHC website soon. For more information, contact Molly McMillan at mmcmillan@mhc.state.ms.us.

Learn More
Ideas on Tap Begins Fall Series on Immigration and Citizenship

On September 24, the MHC will host the first in a three-part Ideas on Tap series about immigration and citizenship in America. The free program, "Ideas on Tap: Who Gets to Be American?" will take place at 5:30 p.m. at Hal and Mal's in downtown Jackson.

The program will focus on the history of immigration and naturalization in the United States, and will include a short panel-based introduction, followed by small-group discussions. Panelists include immigration attorney Patricia Ice, historian and MHC Executive Director Dr. Stuart Rockoff, and community organizer Lorena Quiroz. Tougaloo College administrator Noel Didla will moderate the panel. 

Following the panel-based introduction, break-out discussion groups led by facilitators will examine different instances, laws, or eras in America's immigration history and assess their impact on how citizenship is awarded and defined.

Later programs in the fall series will address issues such as patriotism, nationalism, and changing demographics in Mississippi.

For more information on Ideas on Tap, contact Caroline Gillespie.

Comicana: Graphic Novels and Cartoons across the Humanities

The University of Mississippi, with a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, will host a weeklong conference entitled "Comicana: Comics and Graphic Novels across the Humanities," exploring a range of aspects of the human experience through sequential art.

Comicana is an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the University's Departments of Art and Art History, Classics, English, Philosophy and Religion, and Writing and Rhetoric. A full week of programs are scheduled, all free and open to the public, including book club discussions, printmaking workshops, panel discussions, and anime film screenings. Using the unique narrative power of comic  art--comic  books, graphic novels, cartoons, comic strips, Manga, children's books and  storyboards--participants will explore themes in religion, martyrdom, gender studies, and Southern culture through graphic art.

"Comicana: Comics and Graphic Novels across the Humanities" begins Oct. 7 and continues through Oct. 12. Most events will take place in the Bryant Hall Gallery on the University of Mississippi campus. Several off-campus activities are also planned at the Oxford Public Library. For a full schedule, visit the University of Mississippi website.



Coming Up: Humanities Programs Sponsored by MHC
 
Speakers Bureau: Archie Who and Why? The Story and Significance of a Mississippi Icon
September 24, 2019, 6:30 p.m.
Sharkey-Issaquena County Library, Rolling Fork
Dr. Charles Westmoreland explores the Archie Manning phenomenon by telling the story of one of Mississippi's greatest sports legends and by placing his life within the context of 1960s and 1970s Mississippi. To understand why "Archie Fever" gripped the state when it did, we must understand who Archie Manning was and how his story fit into the broader political, social, and cultural context of his times.

Let Us March On: Panel Discussion
September 24, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Johnson Art Hall, Jackson State University
Let Us March On: Lee Friedander and the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom  is a documentary photography exhibition that details the events and people who participated in one of the first mass protests of the modern Civil Rights movement in 1957.  The exhibition will run at Jackson State through November 1, 2019, and it will be featured at three major events including a gallery talk by Eric Etheridge on October 29, 2019.





Historic Rose Hill Cemetery Costumed Tour
September 28, 2019, 7:00 p.m.
Rose Hill Cemetery, Meridian
Volunteer historians and storytellers in period costume will portray the lives and times of some of those buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.




Ideas on Tap Biloxi: The Future of Public Education in Mississippi
September 30, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
Biloxi Visitors Center, Biloxi
Join the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Phil Hardin Foundation in Biloxi at the Biloxi Visitors Center for the first in a special two-part Ideas on Tap series on public education in the state. The free program will feature an ideologically diverse panel of education policy experts to discuss different approaches to improving public schools.


Native American Days
October 9-11, 2019
Winterville Mounds, Greenville
Native American Days connects contemporary southeastern Native American traditions to their pre-Columbian past through archaeology.  There will be 10 demonstration stations administered by Native Americans and/or other experts in traditional arts and crafts, including basketry, pottery, ancient games, mound building, archery, flint knapping, music and dance, primitive fishing, and herbal medicines. Native American food will be available for purchase.


Speakers Bureau: The Asylum Hill Cemetery Project
October 11, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, Columbus
This presentation from Dr. Ralph Didlake provides an overview of the history of the  Mississippi Insane Asylum, established in Jackson in 1855 and operated until 1935,  and describes a proposal to memorialize those buried in the Asylum Hill Cemetery in a manner that also creates a research and education resource.
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