UM William Winter Student Scholars Attend 37th Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration
Two graduate students examine stories of American freedom at annual event
OXFORD, Miss. – Jacob Fennell and Samson Oklobia are the University of Mississippi 2026 William Winter Student Scholars for what has been described as the state’s most significant annual conference devoted to literature, history, film, and culture, the Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration. This year’s event was February 26–28.
Named for former Mississippi Governor William Winter, scholars are chosen by their educational institution and honored publicly at opening and closing sessions of the event. The annual award honors Winter’s work for educational reform and racial reconciliation and his love of the humanities. The recognition is given by each Mississippi university to students, faculty, and administrators who make substantial humanities contributions across the state.
This year’s theme of “Stories of American Freedom” explores the complexity of the nation’s pursuit of freedom through lectures by authors.
Fennell (BA public policy leadership 22, MA Southern Studies 24) is an English doctoral student writing his dissertation on “Gambling Fictions: Southern Literature and the Aesthetics of Casino Capitalism.” He has presented his research at the Southern Studies Forum Conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
“His work centers on 20th and 21st century Southern literature and film with particular attention to discourses of place and space. As a result, his research often poses critical questions about freedom in America, the systems that deny it, and the attempts by American authors and filmmakers to imagine spaces in which a fuller notion of American freedom may be realized,” said Caroline Wigginton, chair of the Department of English.
Oklobia is a master’s student at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and graduate assistant for the Southern Documentary Project. A storyteller with a background in filmmaking and television production from Nigeria, he is a graduate of the University of Jos and he trained as a cinematographer and high-def filmmaker at PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos, and New York Film Academy, Abu Dhabi.
“As an international student and also a filmmaker learning to tell stories in this country, I believe Mr. Oklobia will benefit greatly from this year’s panel of scholars addressing the theme Stories of American Freedom,” said Andrew Harper, director of media & documentary projects and associate professor of practice in documentary expression.
Winter Scholars are chosen by their educational institutions and honored publicly at the opening and closing sessions of the conference.
Top: Former Mississippi Governor William Winter (1980–84). Photograph by Joe Ellis / The Clarion-Ledger
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March 19, 2026