skip to main content
College of Liberal Arts
University of Mississippi

Sarah Isom Center

Isom web logo

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 […]


Isom web logo

‘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 […]


Sarahfest logo

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 […]


Isom Center Names 2022-23 Fellows

Fellowship emphasizes interdisciplinary research in gender and sexuality June 29, 2022 By Benita Whitehorn The Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies has awarded fellowships to six University of Mississippi faculty members for their academic research related to gender and sexuality. Susan Pedigo, Lauren Bone Noble, Ari Friedlander, LaToya Faulk, Alexandra Lindgren-Gibson and D’Andre Walker are this year’s […]


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 […]


Glitterary Festival Examines Boundaries of Literature and Gender

Organizers hope to spark community conversation surrounding race, class and intersectionality April 26, 2022 By Michael Taplin Members of the University of Mississippi and Oxford communities can listen and learn about queer ideas and representation in literature by attending the Glitterary Festival, a queer literary festival with a broad definition of what is literature and what is […]