Dr. Amber Harrison Mabus will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for Holmes Community College titled “From Austen to Bridgerton: The Enduring Appeal of Regency Romance in Popular Culture.” 250 years after her birth, Jane Austen’s stories still resonate with modern audiences, thanks to the ongoing popularity of Regency-era romance in books, television, and […]

Dr. Richard Purcell will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for the University of Mississippi titled “Race, Speculative Value and Art at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century.” The lecture will take place on the University of Mississippi campus on March 3, 2026, at 5 p.m.

Max Grivno presents "Slavery in Antebellum Mississippi" By 1860, Mississippi’s farms and plantations yielded 1.2 million bales of cotton, making it the nation’s leading cotton producer. This prosperity rested on the backs of some 436,631 enslaved blacks, who constituted 55 percent of the state’s population and who made Mississippi the third-largest slave-holding state, behind only […]

Shelly Stolp will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for Pearl River Community College titled “The Mind-Body Loop: How Psychology Shapes Health More Than We Realize.” This presentation examines how psychological processes shape physical health, often through everyday stress. Using guided imagery and discussion of the autonomic nervous system, it illustrates the mind–body feedback […]

Yolanda Williams will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for Jackson State University titled “When We See Ourselves: Representation, Mentorship, and Storytelling Across the Arts.” “When We See Ourselves: Representation, Mentorship, and Storytelling Across the Arts” explores the role of representation and mentorship in shaping storytelling across theatre, film, and the arts. Grounded in […]

Dr. Brandon Knight will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for William Carey University titled “Freedom to Save the Body (of Christ): The Rhetorical Chemotherapy of Archbishop Salvatore Cardileone.” “Freedom to Save the Body (of Christ): The Rhetorical Chemotherapy of Archbishop Salvatore Cardileone” is a rhetorical analysis of a homily presented by the archbishop […]

Read & Rise is a family literacy program that brings children and parents together through shared reading, culturally relevant books, including works by Mississippi authors, parent workshops, and creative activities. Each session features community reading circles, guided literacy activities, strategies for supporting reading at home, and free book distribution to help families build home libraries. […]

Read & Rise is a family literacy program that brings children and parents together through shared reading, culturally relevant books, including works by Mississippi authors, parent workshops, and creative activities. Each session features community reading circles, guided literacy activities, strategies for supporting reading at home, and free book distribution to help families build home libraries. […]

Chandler Smith will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for East Central Community College titled “The Culture of Tone.” The lecture will take place on the  East Central Community College campus on March 17, 2026, at 2 p.m.

Grady Howell presents "The Bride of Annandale, A Love Story of the Old South" The Bride of Annandale is a fully researched  nonfiction narrative detailing the tragic romance of Henry Gray Vick, a descendant of the founders of Vicksburg, and Helen Johnstone of Annandale Plantation and Chapel of the Cross fame.  Henry was killed in […]

Virginia Miller-Durr will present the 2026 Humanities Teacher Award lecture for Hinds Community College titled “HaPPPiness,: Pedagogy, Pageantry, and Prison.” From first-generation college learners and incarcerated students to communities and lives hungry for belonging and hope, the humanities cannot simply be explained; they must be lived through action in every stage in life. At a […]

Each year, the Mississippi Humanities Council honors scholars, educators, and organizations who have made significant contributions to the public humanities in Mississippi. Join us at the 2026 Public Humanities Awards on Friday, March 20, at 5:30 p.m., at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, as we recognize this year’s incredible honorees who have made outstanding […]