UM Isom Center Welcomes New Fellows

The Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies at the University of Mississippi has chosen a new group of faculty members for its two-year fellowship program.

Created in 2018 with eight inaugural faculty fellows, the program is designed to support research projects conducted by faculty in the areas of gender and sexuality. The support includes grant-writing support, research assistance and the organizing of conferences or symposia.

“The Isom Fellowship program gives me the chance to learn about the incredible scholarship our faculty are doing, and it also inspires me,” said Jaime Harker, Isom Center director. “From preserving LGBGTQ+ history in Mississippi to studying women’s leadership to improving maternal care, the work of our Isom Fellows both increases our knowledge and makes our communities better.

” I am grateful to the provost for his continued support of this vital research program.”

A virtual poster session featuring 11 of the Isom Fellows and their research is set for 3-5 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 9) on Zoom. To register, click here.

Presenters from the 2020-22 cohort are:

• Marie Barnard, assistant professor of pharmacy administration and research assistant professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her research explores the intersection of sex and gender with public health issues.
• Frank Fernandez, assistant professor of higher education. He uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study policy and equity issues in higher education.
• Jennie Lightweis-Goff, instructor of English. Since 2016, she has been an instructor on UM’s regional campuses, where she teaches film studies, feminist theory, Southern studies and the full historical scope of American literature.
• Deanna Kreisel, associate professor of English. She works on feminist theory, political economy, environmental criticism and the 19th-century British novel.
• Eva Payne, assistant professor of history. Payne’s current book project asks how and why many American reformers came to see sexual issues – including prostitution, the legal age of consent, venereal disease and sex trafficking – as central international humanitarian and political problems in late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Don Unger, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric. Unger’s research addresses the relationships among embodied experience, technological innovation and grassroots activism.

Presenters from the 2019-21 cohort are:

• Francis D. Boateng, assistant professor of legal studies. He is working on several projects testing the organizational justice and support theories in a comparative context.
• Deidra Jackson, interim director of the university’s Tupelo Writing Center and an instructor of writing and rhetoric. Her research focuses on scholarly productivity, writing groups, and the perceptions and impacts of “publish or perish.” A former newspaper editor and reporter in North Carolina and Mississippi, she is a contributing writer for Inside Higher Ed.
• Tess Lefmann, assistant professor of social work. Her research agenda focuses on maternal and child health disparities, beginning with inequalities in the prenatal environment that lead to discrepancies in postpartum health promotion behaviors.
• Gregory J. Love, associate professor of political science. Love’s work focuses on the intersection of mass political behavior and elite identities, actions, and institutions, particularly in Latin America.
• Amy McDowell, assistant professor of sociology. McDowell’s research takes a qualitative approach to understanding the relationship between American evangelical church culture and gender politics in the Deep South.

For assistance related to a disability for this event, contact Kevin Cozart at 662-915-5916 or isomctr@olemiss.edu.

By Edwin B. Smith