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University of Mississippi

Gender Studies

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Oxford Pride Week to Celebrate State’s Queer Community

Movie screening, poetry night and ‘Long Live the Queens’ parade scheduled APRIL 25, 2023 BY CLARA TURNAGE The Lafayette-Oxford-University community will break out the tiaras this year during the annual Oxford Pride Week celebration, which is themed “Long Live the Queens.” The Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, in collaboration with University of Mississippi and community partners, hosts Oxford […]


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‘Take Back the Night’ Rally Supports Interpersonal Violence Survivors

UM community to host resource fair, raffle and march for Sexual Assault Awareness Month APRIL 9, 2023 BY CLARA TURNAGE Members of the University of Mississippi community will gather Tuesday (April 11) on the Ole Miss Student Union Plaza to “Take Back the Night” during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The annual event brings attention to […]


The Honorable Governor William Winter served as Director of Proceedings for the Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration for 27 years. Photo by Nathan Latil/UM Digital Imaging Services

William Winter Scholars and Others Represent UM at Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration

Highlighting literature, history, film, and culture FEBRUARY 13, 2023 BY STAFF REPORT University of Mississippi professors, students, and alumni will be recognized at the 34th annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration on February 23–24. Latrice Johnson, an English and gender studies master’s student, and Eva Payne, an assistant professor of history, are UM’s selected 2023 […]


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Cultivating Creativity

Sarahfest Artist-in-Residence expands experiences and knowledge             FEBRUARY 10, 2023 BY STAFF REPORT For the past eight years the University of Mississippi Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies’ annual Sarahfest has celebrated and highlighted women and LGBTQ+ creators in the arts. The Isom Center and the Department of […]


Eva Payne (center), UM associate professor of history, speaks with Madeline Burdine (left), a first-year graduate sociology and anthropology student, and Angie Rankin, a second-year sociology graduate student, about their display for the Queer Mississippi Exhibit in the Department of Archives and Special Collections in the J.D. Williams Library. The exhibit uses archival materials and quotes from the Queer Mississippi Oral History project to show the history of LGBTQ+ people in the state. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services

Queer Mississippi on Display at J.D. Williams Library

Graduate students gather, curate LGBTQ+ materials for exhibition DECEMBER 7, 2022 BY CLARA TURNAGE Eleven University of Mississippi graduate students have curated an exhibition of LGBTQ+ Mississippi materials as a part of a multidisciplinary study on the history of the queer South. Amy McDowell, associate professor of sociology, and Eva Payne, assistant professor of history, […]


UM alumnus Reggie Willis lives in Juneau, Alaska. The 2018 graduate experienced homelessness twice during his time as an Ole Miss student after coming out to his parents. Submitted photo

Professor Launches LGBTQIA+ Emergency Fund

Sarah Isom Center director organized nonprofit to address concern DECEMBER 6, 2022 BY BENITA WHITEHORN Reggie Willis, who is transgender, will never forget when he lived in his truck on a diet of bagged cereal. He grew up in a middle-class family and lived a privileged life. He started at the University of Mississippi in […]


Nora Augustine

Isom Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Nora Augustine

“As I grow older, like many people, I try to be the kind of adult I wish I’d had in my life when I was younger.” —Nora Augustine, visiting assistant professor of gender studies Nora Augustine joined the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies as a visiting assistant professor of gender studies after […]


Zamareyah Dawn puts on her feathered wings

A town of many colors: Oxford Pride

April 28, 2022 By Brittany Kohne via the Daily Mississippian All the colors of the rainbow will collide on April 24-30. Oxford Pride, organized by the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, is hosting a whole week of LGBTQIA+ events. From a Pride Interfaith service on April 24 to a parade and drag show […]


Jenny Conlee, of the Grammy-nominated band The Decembrists, will accompany a number of Ole Miss students alongside Sarahfest artist-in-residence Kelly Hogan for an Oct. 29 performance covering music throughout the decades. Photo by Jason Quigley.

Sarahfest 2021 Highlights DIY Arts and Music

Annual festival to host its first artist-in-residence September 28, 2021 by JB Clark This year’s Sarahfest is celebrating the do-it-yourself ethic that has been central to so many queer and feminist communities with its theme of “DIY Style.” The annual festival, hosted by the University of Mississippi‘s Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, will feature […]


‘Out in the Grove’ to Celebrate LGBTQ Community

June 12 event to welcome community, provide resources for all June 10, 2021 By JB Clark After a year without an official pride celebration on the University of Mississippi campus and in the larger community, the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies is bringing the annual celebration of the LGBTQ community to the […]