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Center for Population Studies and Partners Host Hunger Summit

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Free Symphony Performance Streams Online

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Graduate Students Helping Organize 2021 ComSciCon-Atlanta

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A gorgeous sunset over Ventress Hall. 📸: Cour

A gorgeous sunset over Ventress Hall.

📸: Courtesy of Kim Phillips.

Free performance streams online—The LOU Symphony

Free performance streams online—The LOU Symphony Orchestra performed Oct. 26 @umfordcenter to a small audience of families and friends of the performers. The audience may have been limited, but the program offered beautiful, expansive music.

The concert was recorded, and @olemissmusic is making it available for everyone via the department’s YouTube channel. The link will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 1) at https://music.olemiss.edu/. #music #symphonyorchestra

Two University of Mississippi students @umgradscho

Two University of Mississippi students @umgradschool are co-organizers of an upcoming workshop aimed at helping graduate students in the Southeast hone their skills in science communication.

Sumeet Kulkarni, a master’s student in the Department of #Physics and #Astronomy, and Kritika Gupta, a master’s student from the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, are helping organize @comsciconatl21 ComSciCon ATL. The virtual meeting is set for March 18-19, 2021.

ComSciCon attendees meet and interact with professional communicators, network with graduate students in all fields of science and engineering from across the U.S. and Canada, and write and publish original works. The program details are being developed, and applications are due at midnight Nov. 29.

Kulkarni said that attending ComSciCon greatly influenced their science communication activities.

“As an organizer of the Oxford Science Cafe' @ssippin_science, I started a new science podcast called “Ssippin’ Science” to accompany it,” he said. “Previous ComSciCon events have also helped me publish in outlets such as Scientific American @scientific_american .

“Kritika is a Soapbox Science speaker and hosts a weekly, live talk show interviewing scientists around the globe.”

#STEM #STEMeducstion

Chemistry professors and lab coordinators at the U

Chemistry professors and lab coordinators at the University of Mississippi worked with the university’s facilities management and facilities procurement teams to create individual cubicles, made using nonporous barriers, in chemistry labs so students could safely conduct experiments and get in-person instruction during the fall semester. In response to public health and UM guidelines, Gregory Tschumper, chair and professor of #chemistry and #biochemistry, and the lab coordinators worked with the university’s facilities management and facilities procurement teams to come up with a proposal for safely distancing students.

They decided to create individual cubicles, made using nonporous barriers, in the labs. The department invested in $20,000 of Plexiglas, for which the facilities team coordinated the ordering and installation.

Additional safety measures included students wearing masks and the sanitizing of each station before and after students worked at it. Teaching staff assistants kept common work areas sanitized.

“I hope that our students and other members of the UM family recognize the Herculean effort that has been put forth by chemistry faculty like Dr. John Wiginton, Dr. Safo Aboaku, Dr. Kerri Scott and Dr. Randy Wadkins in our teaching labs this semester,” Tschumper said.

“With all of the safety restrictions imposed by the pandemic, they have gone to extraordinary lengths to convert our laboratory courses to a hybrid format that still regularly includes in-person instruction. It is a privilege to work with such a dedicated group of faculty and teaching assistants.” #STEM #STEMeducation #chemistry #biochemistry 📸: Adobe Stock

Stephanie E. Miller, associate professor of #psych

Stephanie E. Miller, associate professor of #psychology and director of experimental training, reflects on teaching during the pandemic:

"Teaching a developmental psychology course remotely gave me the opportunity to involve students in the course in new ways. We shared and drew on our own experiences growing up on virtual whiteboards and created musical playlists that captured developmental concepts across the lifespan. I plan on keeping many of the tools and assignments I developed in this course for semesters to come!"

You did it! Congratulations on finishing finals an

You did it! Congratulations on finishing finals and the fall semester. Have a safe and relaxing winter break.

Rowan Oak, the home of legendary author and Missis

Rowan Oak, the home of legendary author and Mississippi native William Faulkner, recently was named as the “Best Historic Site 2020” in @mississippimagazine’s annual Best of Mississippi awards.

What makes Rowan Oak different from other “house” museums is that each room and item inside and outside the house and 4-acre estate is intact and original, all left by Faulkner after his death, said Robert Saarnio, the museum’s director.

“Rowan Oak is entirely furnished as Faulkner last saw it,” he said. 📸: @rkjphoto/ Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services

PHOTO: Martial Longla, associate professor of #mat

PHOTO: Martial Longla, associate professor of #mathematics, interacts with students in a Zoom class this semester.

Dr. Longla said that in general teaching remotely has been a very positive experiment for many reasons:

1. It proved that the blackboard remains the best choice of students.
2. Lectures in Mathematics don't flow well using power points, and students mostly prefer to see the instructor writing down the answers.
3. Students aren't afraid to connect to the class with their Cameras on, and in some cases, they interact more than in some of my regular classes.
4. Students value the efforts that instructors put into the class or their perception of the efforts. I taught two classes from Africa, where I was confined. All I had was a phone and electric power was not continuous in that part of the world with 6 hours time difference. The feedback from students for these classes turned out to be more encouraging than for any other of my classes. The suggested reason was that they valued the struggles that I was going through to make sure they get what they would get under normal circumstances.

Political Science PhD student Jonah King presented

Political Science PhD student Jonah King presented his research virtually at the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) Annual Meeting.

“This year ISPP was scheduled to be held in Berlin so when I applied in the fall of 2019 I knew it was very unlikely that I would be able to present my research there because of the cost of travel, but my advisor, Dr. Wronski, and I planned for her to present on my behalf if I was unable to attend. When the conference went online that gave me an opportunity to present the research I had worked hard on myself. Since ISPP is an international conference presenting my work there allowed me to receive useful feedback from scholars all over the world which has helped me improve my research considerably. I know it would not have been possible for me to have this great experience had the conference not been online.”

—Jonah King, editorial assistant for the State Politics and Policy Quarterly and a graduate student @umgradschool in the Department of Political Science

“The virtual nature of learning and sharing research across higher education has actually afforded students opportunities they would not have otherwise had if everything were face to face.

“I have involved graduate students in virtual research presentations and workshops related to political psychology—one hosted by the international scholarly organization International Society of Political Psychology. My grad students would not have been able to participate in these research networking opportunities if we were not engaging in virtual learning, as time and finances would have precluded students from travel. If anything, online learning has made the world a little smaller, and our location in Mississippi less isolated from larger metropolitan areas that convene research groups.”

—Julie Wronski, assistant professor of political science

"Before Fall semester began as planning for class

"Before Fall semester began as planning for class modalities was being discussed, the thought of bringing some of our design and production alumni together virtually with our current design and production students, seemed a way to turn an unfortunate situation in the theatre and film industry into something positive for both our alumni and for our current students. When approached with the idea, the chair of our department @theatrefilmatum granted us funding in order to compensate our design and production alumni for their time.

"Once we were given the green light to move ahead with the idea, my colleague, Jared Spears, and I began contacting alumni who have worked and continue to work in a variety of different areas of design and production in the professional industry. The alumni we virtually brought in were all really excited to share their experiences with our current students as well as share valuable insight concerning how to navigate, work, and succeed in the professional industry. It was also an incredibly positive experience to discuss with the alumni and current students the important role the arts and performance have in our world and will continue to have as we move through this pandemic."
—Carey B. Hanson, professor of costume design

"The special guests for the remote Production Studies class have provided our students with many opportunities to engage with theatre professionals in a variety of disciplines. Because the guests have primarily been alumni of our department, I believe it’s been very relatable for our current students to see these success stories and how they’ve unfolded. I’ve personally been impressed not just by the exciting work that our graduates are doing on Broadway and with Cirque du Soleil, Saturday Night Live and the American Ballet Theatre but also by the various paths that got them there. I think this has been inspiring to our current students too as they look to the future and their own careers."
—Jared Spears, instructional associate professor of technical direction

A photo from our guest session with Wes McClain. He is on the upper left corner of the Zoom screen. Wesley graduated from

In the age of crowdfunding and viral media, two Un

In the age of crowdfunding and viral media, two University of Mississippi biologists @olemissbiology are developing a mobile phone app that will allow “citizen scientists” to conduct marine assessments on the north central Gulf of Mexico.

University of Mississippi Biology Department Professors Glenn Parsons and Richard Buchholz have partnered to create a Mobile App for Marine Assessment as part of the Gulf of Mexico Citizen Scientist Initiative. MAMA’s state-of-the-art technology will allow residents and visitors to upload photos, measurements, GPS location and other data regarding specimens they have captured, observed and identified.

Users also will be able to submit photos of endangered or unusual specimens of fish and other marine creatures for identification, track the abundance and health of fish species seasonally and regionally, document invasive species in Gulf waters, and monitor changes in the health of coastal ecosystems and shoreline erosional changes.

The initiative has been awarded $1.7 million, including $1.2 million to UM and $500,000 to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. #STEM #STEMeducation #biology #science

"'El café de los lunes' is a weekly opportunity

"'El café de los lunes' is a weekly opportunity for students and friends to practice their Spanish in an informal setting. When COVID hit, we moved our meetings to Zoom. This semester, however, it took us only a few weeks to realize we really missed the face-to-face contact, so we decided to go back to the in-person mode. Wearing masks and keeping social distance, we have been meeting in the Grove every Monday.
"Calley Overton, one of our most faithful café participants, wrote to me at the end of this semester:
'..Thank you for keeping @elcafeolemiss in a face-to-face format week after week, during such a strange semester. Professors like you are the ones who make @olemiss so special.'"
—Irene Kaufmann Cotelo, senior lecturer of #Spanish @ummodernlangs

"This fall, students in POL 304 participated in a

"This fall, students in POL 304 participated in a month-long simulation of lawmaking in the United States Senate, introducing bills, and holding committee meetings and floor debates on Zoom. Senate Majority Leader Jonathan Kirk and Senate Minority Leader Chris Brown demonstrated both great skill in procedural maneuvering for their parties as well as the spirit of bipartisanship in making sure the business of the class was completed on time. It's exciting to see UM students advocate passionately for their political beliefs while demonstrating pragmatic leadership in a tough environment."
—Jonathan D. Klingler, assistant professor of political science

David Carlisle teaches and performs as an adjunct

David Carlisle teaches and performs as an adjunct instructor @olemissmusic. He is also principal percussionist with the @MemphisSymphonyOrchestra, which carries responsibilities far beyond performing, and he recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts @uc_ccm.

Carlisle teaches several sections of Music 103: Music Appreciation and is part of a team of music faculty who are working to reimagine and redesign the course

“This is about helping students, some of whom do not have a background in music, understand some of music’s building blocks, so that they can listen to any kind of music in a new way, talk about it more precisely and engage with it on a richer, more informed level,” he said.

Alumna Dr. Daphne Chamberlain (PhD @um_historydept

Alumna Dr. Daphne Chamberlain (PhD @um_historydept) is the Mississippi Humanities Council @mshumanities Speakers Bureau Interviewee featured in their November newsletter.

As part of the MHC’s recent Anti-Racism Reading Shelf Grant project for public libraries in Mississippi, a new roster of presentations was added to the Speakers Bureau. One of the newly added scholars is Dr. Daphne Chamberlain. Dr. Chamberlain attended historic Tougaloo College @tougaloocollege where she completed her undergraduate studies in history in 2001, and she subsequently received her master’s and Ph.D. in history from the University of Mississippi. Before returning to Tougaloo as a faculty member, Dr. Chamberlain taught history and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi and was also the founding director of the COFO Civil Rights Education Center @jacksonstateu. Dr. Chamberlain’s talk through the MHC is titled, “The Emmett Till Generation: Youth Activism, Radical Protest, and Social Change in Jim Crow Mississippi.” Read the interview, visit: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Mississippi-Humanities-Council-Newsletter--November-2020.html?soid=1121910898643&aid=iUmwHQkvIVo

A message of gratitude—an end-of-semester messag

Parker Viator, a sophomore @olemissmusic and @thea

Parker Viator, a sophomore @olemissmusic and @theatrefilmatum major, studies for his acting final.

📸: Digital Imaging Services/@olemissphoto

"When I prepared for Fall Semester 2020, I had con

"When I prepared for Fall Semester 2020, I had concerns that the kinds of connections that usually occur between students and between the students and me as professor in my film-oriented workshop classes wouldn’t be possible through Zoom. Though I look forward to returning to the physical classroom, I’ve been surprised by how easily these connections have been formed. I even find that students who would normally be reluctant to speak during workshop discussions are more willing to do so through Zoom. There is a similar feeling of closeness between the workshop table and the Zoom interface, and no one needs to wear a mask remotely, so facial expressions continue to allow the class and me to understand true reactions, for instance, to the reading of a screenplay."

—Alan Arrivée, associate professor of film and head of BFA in Film Production Program @theatrefilmatum

📸: By Dason Pettit @dasonpettit74 during the production of Professor Arrivée's iPhone feature film THE WONDER OF THE WORLD… Here he discusses a scene with kids from different schools in the Oxford area who acted in this film at the Magnolia Montessori School.

"Almost all the students in 16 sections of astrono

"Almost all the students in 16 sections of astronomy lab have seen Jupiter and Saturn this semester using the large telescope on campus in the Kennon Observatory. The rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter were popular."

—Don Summers, professor of #Physics and #Astronomy

📸: A student looks through our telescope at the Kennon Observatory @olemissphoto and a picture of Saturn taken by student Sumeet Kulkarni at the Kennon Observatory.

#STEM #STEMeducation #Astronomy #astronomyphotography

“This semester has not been easy for students or

“This semester has not been easy for students or for faculty. I have been working on the best way to present material and to make my students interested in each class," said Karla Durán, instructor of #Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages @ummodernlangs.

“I got an email from the mother of one of my students saying thanks for all my teaching! She explained my student is doing well in class because of my dedication. I usually do not hear from my students’ parents, so it is great to know that what I am doing is working, that it is appreciated, and that it is making a difference.

"'What I am doing' is a collective. Quizzes from Gabriel, Google Classroom from Edgar, redoing exams with Irene, guidance from Julia, Maribel checking on me... this letter made my day, and my colleagues make my semester!"

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