English News

South's Common Read Offers Food for Thought
June 12, 2024

The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and Communities is the 2024-25 Common Read book selection for 2024-25. ...

Dr. Charlotte Pence, director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama, has been named the first Mobile Poet Laureate.

Pence Named Mobile Poet Laureate
January 22, 2024

Dr. Charlotte Pence, director of South's Stokes Center for Creative Writing, is the city's first poet laureate. ...

Dr. Kern Jackson, director of the USA African American Studies program, appears in “Descendant,” which has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Image courtesy of Netflix/Participant.

'Descendant' Nominated for NAACP Image Award
February 20, 2023

The film was co-written and co-produced by Dr. Kern Jackson, director of USA's African American Studies program. The 54th NAACP Image Awards will be telecast Feb. 25. ...

Stokes Center for Creative Writing Presents Dionne Irving
February 3, 2023

Dionne Irving will read from her latest short story collection "The Islands." ...

Best-selling novelist Emily St. John Mandel will read from and discuss her genre-bending work on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 as part of The Stokes Center for Creative Writing Visiting Writers’ Series. Mandel is the author of the literary sensation Station Eleven, which was adapted into an HBO Max limited series, and most recently the novel Sea of Tranquility. The reading will take place at the University of South Alabama's Student Center Ballroom at 6:00 p.m. A reception and book signing will follow. Photo courtesy: Sarah Shatz.

Best-Selling Novelist Emily St. John Mandel to Speak at USA
November 2, 2022

Emily St. John Mandel will be the keynote speaker as part of The Stokes Center for Creative Writing Visiting Writers' Series. ...

Dr. Kern Jackson, director of the African American Studies Program at the University of South Alabama, served as co-writer and co-producer of “Descendant.”

Folklore Meets Film
October 19, 2022

Dr. Kern Jackson helps bring the story of Africatown to new audiences in "Descendant." ...

Jonah Smith, a senior English major from Foley, Alabama is the first graduate of the University of South Alabama's TESL/TEFL certificate program. He hopes to eventually teach English in Japan. The program allows students in any major an opportunity to expand their marketability and find work globally.

Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language
May 2, 2022

South's new certificate program for Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language allows students multiple career options. ...

University of South Alabama students recently returned from the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights workshop in the United Kingdom. The Consortium's goal is to understand and develop constructive solutions to the problems of today, drawing from scholars and students from a wide variety of disciplines. From left, Clarissa Morgan, senior, from Andalusia, Ala.; Nicole Lemon, sophomore, from Gulfport, Miss.; Mitchell Chambers, senior, from Montevallo, Ala.; and Dr. Douglas Marshall, Honors College interim dean.

South Students Attend Human Rights Workshop in U.K.
April 4, 2022

The Consortium hosts teaching and research seminars on human rights, global conflict, humanitarian aid and peacebuilding. ...

University of South Alabama Journalist-in-Residence Cynthia Tucker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator and Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard, an award-winning author on faculty at the University of South Alabama have joined forces to write their new book, “The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance.”

New Book Shares Hopes, Challenges of American Democracy
March 29, 2022

USA's Cynthia Tucker and Frye Galliard collaborate to write their new book, "The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance." ...

The Warren Nicholson Associate Professor Dr. Na Gong, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, left, and Director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing Dr. Charlotte Pence, associate professor of English, at the University of South Alabama were selected respectively as the 2021-2022 Phi Kappa Phi’s Scholar of the Year and Artist of the Year

Phi Kappa Phi Presents Scholar and Artist Awards
March 9, 2022

South's Phi Kappa Phi chapter has selected Dr. Na Gong as Scholar of the Year, and Dr. Charlotte Pence as Artist of the Year. ...

Dr. Kern Jackson, director of USA's African American Studies program, co-wrote and co-produced the film "Descendant" premiering January 20-30, 2022 at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT.

South Professor's 'Descendant' Premieres at Sundance Film Festival
January 18, 2022

Dr. Kern Jackson will be recognized for his work on the film featuring the slave ship Clotilda and Africatown community. ...

Dr. Kern Jackson specializes in African American and Southeastern United States folklore and oral narrative. He is currently working on a book project titled “Masters, Servants and Mardi Gras: Listening to the Wise Ones’ Personal Narratives.”

Jackson to Present at 19th Annual Hamner Lecture
October 8, 2021

Dr. Kern Jackson, director of South's African American Studies program, will speak at the event in the Marx Library Auditorium. ...

From L-R, Paul Sledge and Delmas McCryndle are interviewed by Dr. Kern Jackson and USA student Ruby Staten about growing up on the Five Rivers delta. A $453,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will help make interviews like this one available to the general public. At the same time, create a structure for courses and internships through which students and faculty can continue to build relationships with the community through oral history.

Huge Boost for the Humanities
October 4, 2021

$453,000 NEH grant is the largest South has ever received for the humanities and will support multiple programs on campus. ...

Drs. Joél Billingsley, Charlene Dadzie, Kern Jackson and Shenghua Zha were awarded Social Justice Initiative grant awards for research.

South Social Justice Awards Announced
January 8, 2021

Four members of USA's faculty were awarded the first Social Justice Initiative grant awards. ...

Temple James, left, and Yavaniy Garraway have been named winners of the "I Belong" essay contest hosted by the Department of English, Honors College, Student Academic Success, and Counseling and Testing Center.

This Is Where I Belong
December 30, 2020

Winners chosen in for the first, "I Belong" essay competition describing each students' journey that led them to South. ...

A Life Well Lived
December 1, 2020

University of South Alabama Writer in Residence, Frye Gaillard's latest book is deeply personal memoir of his late wife Nancy. ...

Dr. Kern Jackson, USA's African American Studies chair, is part of a documentary film examining the origins and evolution of blues music in Alabama's Black Belt region.

Alabama's Black Belt Blues
October 20, 2020

USA assistant professor Dr. Kern Jackson is featured in an Alabama Public Television documentary on Alabama's blues music history. ...

Dr. Charlotte Pence, Director of Stokes Center for Creative Writing wins Fellowship from the Alabama Arts Council.

USA's Pence Receives Fellowship
June 18, 2020

Alabama Arts Council awards fellowship to Dr. Charlotte Pence as her latest book of poems is scheduled for release. ...

Lori Baggett, who graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1998 and played on the women's basketball team, has been named managing partner of Carlton Fields' Tampa, Fla., office.

A Legal Mind, a Basketball IQ
March 27, 2020

As managing partner at Carlton Fields, Lori Baggett is showing the leadership she once brought to the classroom and the court. ...

The third installment of the Annual Songwriter Keynote will feature a performance by Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers. Photo: Andy Tennille

Drive-By Truckers' Hood to Perform
February 21, 2020

The March 2 event will include a performance by Patterson Hood, a presentation on roots music and a roundtable discussion. ...

Author Patti Callahan, winner of the prestigious Harper Lee Award, will conduct a writing workshop and discuss her bestselling novel “Becoming Mrs. Lewis” Feb. 13 at the University of South Alabama.

Author Patti Callahan to Hold Workshop
February 11, 2020

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing will host Callahan, who will conduct a writing workshop and discuss her historical novel. ...

Author Edwidge Danticat will discuss her writing on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 5 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. She will also lead a creative writing class during her visit.

USA to Host Author Edwidge Danticat
January 21, 2020

The Haitian-born Danticat will visit Jan. 30. Her latest book, 'Everything Inside,' includes stories of her personal journey. ...

South Helps Host Jewish Film Festival
January 14, 2020

The Mobile Jewish Film Festival will run from Jan. 16 through Feb. 2. Several of the films will be shown on USA's campus. ...

Ruby Bryan, a University of South Alabama student, joined Dr. Kathy Cooke, Honors College dean, and Dr. Kern Jackson, director of the African American Studies Program, for an interview on the Eastern Shore as part of an oral histories program. The interviews will be shared with the public in local library programs early next year.

Collecting History Through Conversation
December 9, 2019

An Honors College initiative is sending students and faculty into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to record stories of its people. ...

Deborah Gurt, archivist for the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, holds one of the Eurdora Welty prints in the Iredale Collection donated to the University of South Alabama. The photo is one of a series taken by Welty as part of her job with the Works Project Administration during the Great Depression.

South Acquires Southern Writers Collection
September 3, 2019

The 166-piece collection is being donated by Dr. John and Beverly Iredale to the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library. ...

English News Archive

South's Common Read Offers Food for Thought June 12, 2024

Pence Named Mobile Poet Laureate January 22, 2024

'Descendant' Nominated for NAACP Image Award February 20, 2023

Stokes Center for Creative Writing Presents Dionne Irving February 3, 2023

Best-Selling Novelist Emily St. John Mandel to Speak at USA November 2, 2022

Folklore Meets Film October 19, 2022

Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language May 2, 2022

South Students Attend Human Rights Workshop in U.K. April 4, 2022

New Book Shares Hopes, Challenges of American Democracy March 29, 2022

Phi Kappa Phi Presents Scholar and Artist Awards March 9, 2022

South Professor's 'Descendant' Premieres at Sundance Film Festival January 18, 2022

Jackson to Present at 19th Annual Hamner Lecture October 8, 2021

Huge Boost for the Humanities October 4, 2021

South Social Justice Awards Announced January 8, 2021

This Is Where I Belong December 30, 2020

A Life Well Lived December 1, 2020

Alabama's Black Belt Blues October 20, 2020

USA's Pence Receives Fellowship June 18, 2020

A Legal Mind, a Basketball IQ March 27, 2020

Drive-By Truckers' Hood to Perform February 21, 2020

Author Patti Callahan to Hold Workshop February 11, 2020

USA to Host Author Edwidge Danticat January 21, 2020

South Helps Host Jewish Film Festival January 14, 2020

Collecting History Through Conversation December 9, 2019

South Acquires Southern Writers Collection September 3, 2019