History Professor Lands Humanities Fellowship

Lindgren-Gibson first Ole Miss historian to receive honor from the University of Rochester

MARCH 8, 2019 BY KATHRYN ABERNATHY

OXFORD, Miss. – Alexandra Lindgren-Gibson, an assistant professor of history at the University of Mississippi, has been awarded a research fellowship from the University of Rochester, which funds a year of workshops, programs, research and biweekly Humanities Center seminars.
Lindgren-Gibson said she was absolutely delighted when she found out she received this fellowship.

“It’s an honor to receive this kind of fellowship, which is basically getting someone to pay you to write and talk about ideas with other really smart people,” Lindgren-Gibson said. “On a practical level, this means that I’ll have the time to complete my book manuscript and hopefully think about where I want my research to go next.”

Lindgren-Gibson has been working on a book manuscript titled “Working-Class Raj: Colonialism and the Making of Class in British India,” which resituates British working-class history as both imperial and global history in exploring the experience of British soldiers and railway workers in India during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Every year, the fellowship has a theme, and fittingly, this year’s theme is community, which Lindgren-Gibson said fits well with her research.

“That’s what attracted me to the fellowship,” Lindgren-Gibson said. “I think about how people maintained relationships and tried – sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing – across vast geographic and cultural distances. I’m excited to be in a place where I’ll get to work with other scholars who are thinking about the same kinds of questions I am.”

At Ole Miss, Lindgren-Gibson teaches graduate courses on European and imperial history and undergraduate courses on the history of modern Europe, the British Empire, gender and sexuality in European history, and the history of shopping. She also teaches undergraduate courses in public history.

Noell Wilson, chair of history and Croft associate professor of history and international studies, said she was thrilled when she found out Lindgren-Gibson received this fellowship, but she wasn’t surprised.

“No other historian here has received this particular fellowship, and it is a significant honor for a pre-tenure assistant professor to receive this award when the fellowship is open to faculty of any rank,” Wilson said. “Alex’s competitiveness in a pool with senior scholars speaks both to the sophistication and innovation of her work in linking the study of imperialism and class.”

Wilson added that she’s excited for Lindgren-Gibson and what this will bring to the university.

“Having a year in residence at the University of Rochester to interact with their faculty and visiting scholars will provide important opportunities for Alex to gather new ideas for both her research and teaching, which she can leverage to strengthen the Department of History here at UM,” Wilson said.

link: https://news.olemiss.edu/history-professor-lands-humanities-fellowship/

Students Experience Study Abroad Trip to Paris

Nineteenth-century French art and civilization focus of two-week excursion

APRIL 26, 2019 BY KATHRYN ABERNATHY

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi students and two faculty members experienced a dream trip in January, traveling on a winter intersession study abroad trip to Paris for two weeks to learn about 19th-century French art and civilization. 

The students earned up to three credit hours of art history or French language toward their degrees. Louise Arizzoli, instructional assistant professor of art history, and Anne Quinney, professor of French, accompanied the students. 

Arizzoli said the trip was a rewarding experience.

“I have greatly enjoyed guiding the students through museums like the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and many more,” she said. “I was very impressed by my group of students, who were not only open-minded about French culture, food and other ways of life, but also intellectually curious and always up to undertake the challenge of tirelessly exploring the art.” 

This was the first time the professors offered the course, Study Abroad in Paris: Nineteenth Century French Art and Civilization, and they hope to offer it again.

The course was an introduction to major themes in 19th-century French art. Beginning with the art of the pre-Revolutionary period and ending with symbolism and early modernism, the course included discussion of the influence of the revolutions of 1789, 1830 and 1848, the Napoleonic presence abroad, the shift from history painting to scenes of everyday life, landscape painting as an autonomous art form, and the effect of modern life on the Impressionists.

Arizzoli and Quinney also guided their students through landmark monuments of French artistic heritage, such as the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. The group is lucky to have seen the monument in all its beauty, just months before the April 15 fire that destroyed its spire and most of the cathedral’s 12th-century roof.

Each day was filled with learning something new about the production of art in France in the 19th century, Quinney said.

“All two weeks of visiting museums, exploring the city and immersing ourselves in Parisian life left me with a sense that I could understand the whole picture – how art and life were interrelated during this tumultuous and fascinating century – and how its imprint lives on in France today,” Quinney said.

Eleven students participated in the program, having met the prerequisites in French or art history.

Art history major Pearson Moore, a sophomore from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, said the trip was incredible, but for different reasons than she expected.

“I was greatly surprised by the degree of cultural differences I have seen and experienced here,” she said. “The submersion into culture, even for only two weeks, has taught me so much about language and communication with communities different (from) my own.”

The group shared space in apartments at a Cultural Experiences Abroad school in Paris.

The course was a spectacular and informative way to view the museums of Paris, said art history major Mary Claire Hayes, a senior from Clarksdale.

“I loved the combinations of places we visited and how they were chronologically arranged throughout the two weeks,” Hayes said.

High School Students Can Earn College Credit at Ole Miss’ Summer College

The University of Mississippi’s Summer College for High School Students is a four-week academic program for rising juniors and seniors who want to experience university life. Students earn college credit, get familiar with the collegiate environment and develop social, personal and academic skills that will increase their overall success in college.

The program’s goal is to mentor students as they learn soft skills that will prepare them to succeed in a postsecondary environment, said Ellen Shelton, who has been UM director of pre-college programs since 2013.

“For our office, we want to create avenues that allow students to advance intellectually, socially and emotionally,” Shelton said. “We have several programs that focus on a specific course of study, such as pre-pharmacy or English, or we have more general education options that allow students to start on their postsecondary experiences.

“While I want all students to attend the University of Mississippi, I want all students to see themselves in whatever future they choose. We want to help students create those futures. We are working with the future leaders of our state and our nation, and that’s exciting to me.”

Between the two sessions this year, May 27-June 25 and June 26-July 26, theprogram enrolls between 270 and 300 students.

“Some programs, such as the Lott Leadership Program for Rising 12 Graders enroll 25 students during each summer term,” Shelton said.“Some programs, such as the StarTalk Chinese Program, enroll 30 students in the second summer term. Each summer, the balance changes, but the second summer session usually has more participants.”

Amy Goodin, project coordinator for the elementary and middle school programs, was in the Lott Leadership Institute for High School Students and took Political Science 101 and Speech 102.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had,” Goodin said. “I was a first-generation college student, and Summer College for High School Students gave me an experience like none other. It allowed me to become comfortable on a college campus, it took away the fear and impossibility of college classes, and it introduced me to people from a variety of backgrounds that I never would have met otherwise. Because of SCHS, I was able to see myself in this new world and had a new-found confidence in myself and my abilities as I finished high school and entered college.”

Goodin has been project coordinator for two and a half years, and she said her firsthand experience with the program has given hergreat insight into the students’ minds and the minds of their parents.

“It helps me to stay ahead of the game when sending out information to parents, it allows me to understand parents’ worries and fears because I remember how my mom felt when I went through the program, and it helps me set aside the ‘work’ sometimes and just have fun with our students,” she said.

Students not only experience some of the fun inside the classroom but outside as well.

Second-year pharmacy school student Jontae Warren participated in the SCHS program in 2012 and 2013, and he remembers participating in many fun activities outside the classroom.

“I do remember us meeting up in small groups throughout the week and doing things like walking to the Square, doing activities at the Turner Center or making trips to Walmart,” Warren said. “My favorite activity was at the end of the program; we would take a boat ride in Memphis and have a party with great food.”

He added that he would recommend SCHS to high school students.

“I think that this is a great opportunity to learn to be independent for sure because you are away from your parents,” Warren said.“It prepares you for college courses, and you get used to being inside a classroom with various ages and backgrounds. Most importantly, you meet people who you develop friendships with and mentor relationships with so that when you actually start college, you don’t feel out of place or alone.”

To learn more about SCHS, visit outreach.olemiss.edu/schs.

Kathryn Abernathy is a senior journalism major and an intern in University Marketing and Communications.

https://at.olemiss.edu/spring-2019/high-school-students-can-earn- college-credit-at-ole-miss-summer-college/

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