Jackson Free Press

Millsaps College is partnering with the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, the Mississippi Book Festival and Lemuria Books to host "Race in America," a live conversation between journalists Jelani Cobb and Calvin Trillin—who have both reported on civil rights for The New Yorker—tonight at 5:30 p.m.

Trillin covered the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and his work is included in a recent book titled "Jackson, 1964: And Other Dispatches from Fifty Years of Reporting on Race in America." Trillin joined The New Yorker in 1963 as a staff writer and worked there for more than 40 years.

Cobb currently covers the Black Lives Matter movement for The New Yorker. In 2019 and 2020, he wrote about Georgia activist Stacey Abrams and her movement to register voters ahead of the 2021 Georgia Senate election. Cobb is the Ira A. Lipman Professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism and contributes to PBS’s Frontline.

"Race in America" is part of Millsaps’ partnership with MCIR to present MCIR Live, a series of in-depth discussions with accomplished journalists. Millsaps and MCIR previously hosted investigative reporter and author Bob Woodward in fall 2020.

The event is free and open to the public. Viewers must register for the event online here.

USM STEM on Demand Program

The University of Southern Mississippi recently launched the STEM on Demand program, which aims to support Mississippi teachers with virtual lessons in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for kindergarten through 8th grade classrooms.

USM’s Center for Science and Mathematics Education received a $397,789 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to administer the program. The university will provide participating students and teachers with free materials and supply kits as well as virtual synchronous lessons.

The university developed the one-year program in response to academic stresses from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a release from USM says. USM professors and scientists will teach the courses via Zoom, with course times and lengths adjusted to meet teachers’ K-8 classroom schedules.

CSME is currently booking STEM lessons with topics such as DNA, astronomy, marine science and more. For more information about the program, visit https://stem-ondemand.org/.

Crafted Identities Exhibit at MSU

Mississippi State University is currently hosting an art exhibit titled "Crafted Identities" that examines how an artist's craft informs his or her personal identity, a release from MSU says. The exhibit features pieces from 12 artists across the United States and will remain on display in MSU's Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery through Friday, Feb. 19.

The gallery is located on the second floor of the Cullis Wade Depot. Viewing hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit is also available for online viewing at caad.msstate.edu/exhibitions

MSU's Department of Art galleries organized the exhibit with support from a Starkville Area Arts Council community grant.

For more information, call 662-325-2970, visit caad.msstate.edu or email [email protected].