Institute for the Humanities announces 2022 Fellows
Now in its second year, Mississippi State University’s Institute for the Humanities has awarded fellowships to three associate professors to assist in their research goals.
Announced this fall, Ted Atkinson in the Department of English, Sol Pelaez in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, and Anne Marshall in the Department of History and executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, each were gifted $1,000 and one course release this spring to allow dedicated time for humanities-related research.
Julia Osman, director for the Institute for the Humanities and an MSU associate professor of history, said the fellowship is designed to “provide fellows time to process research and produce work from that research.”
“Unlike other disciplines which report on collections of data, humanities scholars have to not only report and interpret but also weave analysis together, which takes a tremendous amount of time,” said Osman.
In addition to the course release, the fellows will meet together throughout the semester to discuss their research. According to Osman, “The meetings provide a small community for the fellows to discuss their ideas which often invigorate and fuel the research of the fellows.”
Last year’s inaugural recipients included Alix Hui, associate professor of history, and Pete Smith, associate professor of communication. Now in its second year, Osman said interest in the fellowship continues to increase.
“We had many more applicants this year. Though the projects differ from one another, each tries to look at difficult problems and uses the humanities to unpack those problems. They were chosen for this reason,” said Osman.
Part of MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Institute for the Humanities promotes research, scholarship and creative performances in the humanistic disciplines and raises their visibility, both within Mississippi State University and the wider community.
For more details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the Institute for the Humanities visit www.cas.msstate.edu or www.ih.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Sarah Nicholas | College of Arts and Sciences
