Women’s History: MSU Faculty Book Talk highlights century of women journalists’ experiences
Mississippi State College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are continuing to tackle social issues during Women’s History Month in the 2023-2024 MSU Faculty Book Talk series -- highlighting Pete Smith, associate professor in MSU’s Department of Communication, for the second of three talks this semester.
Free to all, Smith’s presentation is Friday [March 22] at 3:30 p.m. in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library. Smith will discuss his book “Birddogs and Tough Old Broads: Women Journalists of Mississippi and a Century of State Politics, 1880s-1980s.”
The Lexington Books publication -- an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield -- was released in October and documents the professional experiences and observations of more than a dozen women journalists covering Mississippi state politics from the 1880s, after the end of Reconstruction -- when newspapers were the primary source of information -- to the 1980s, a time period marked by steady declines in both news revenue and circulation, and the emergence of corporate journalism.
“The MSU Faculty Book Talk series celebrates academic books and the MSU faculty who write them,” said Eric Vivier, MSU associate professor of English and series director.
“These events are great opportunities for faculty to share their research with the MSU community and great opportunities for the MSU community to learn about the research happening on campus,” said Vivier, a faculty fellow with MSU’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College.
This year’s Faculty Book Talk series concludes April 19 with a discussion by Joseph Thompson, an assistant professor in the Department of History, on his book “Cold War Country: How Nashville’s Music Row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism.” The University of North Carolina Press publication is expected to be released April 2.
MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,000 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences can be found at www.cas.msstate.edu.
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Sarah Nicholas | College of Arts and Sciences
