Mississippi Humanities Council

10/14/2026

The Mississippi Humanities Council will hold its regular board meeting at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Nelson Student Union on Friday, October 16, at 1 p.m.

Need assistance during that time? Our staff is still available and happy to help via email. You can find contact information here: mshumanities.org/about/our-staff.

10/12/2026

10/12/2026

There are still a few FREE tickets left for tomorrow’s screening of Your Attention Please! Get your tickets at mshumanities.org/program/screenings.

Your Attention Please will screen at Millsaps College in the Academic Complex, Room 137, on Tuesday, October 13, at 6:30 p.m., thanks to a partnership between the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Film Society. The event is free, but registration is required. Parking is available through the Park Avenue entrance off North State Street.

The documentary explores algorithmic feeds, media, identity, and public trust. The program will consider how digital platforms influence what communities see, value, believe, and share.

The screening is part of Reel Intelligence: Mississippi Conversations on AI, a film-and-discussion series that places human experience—not just technology—at the center of the conversation. All screenings are free and open to the public and will be followed by a moderated public discussion examining AI and its effect on our human experience. Rather than asking simply whether AI is good or bad, the series will consider questions of power, authorship, identity, belief, memory, responsibility, and human judgment.

10/08/2026

MHC’s assistant director was recently visiting her home state of Iowa and had the opportunity to attend a Humanities Iowa-sponsored Speakers Bureau program at the Slater Public Library. Sarah Pratt, who is the current sculptor for the annual butter sculptures at the Iowa State Fair, did a fantastic job sharing the history of this Iowan tradition.

Which Speakers Bureau presentation would you bring an out-of-town friend to?

10/08/2026

Our friends at First Regional Library were recently on SuperTalk North Mississippi 93.7 FM talking about the "Spark! Places of Innovation" traveling exhibit opening this Saturday at the Lafayette County & Oxford Public Library. Be sure to check it out and join us for their Opening Reception and Ribbon Cutting from 1-3 p.m.

For a complete list of their events and programs, check out their website. https://firstregional.org/Spark/

Tune in to North Mississippi Spotlight with Gary Darby this morning at 9 A.M. as our own Meridith Wulff will join the program to discuss the Smithsonian exhibit “SPARK! Places of Innovation”, which opens this Saturday at the Lafayette County & Oxford Public Library!

Listen locally on SuperTalk North Mississippi 93.7 FM or check the comments below to listen online.

10/08/2026

You're invited to join us this Saturday, October 10 from 1-3 P.M. for the Opening Reception and Ribbon Cutting of the Smithsonian exhibit "SPARK! Places of Innovation" at the Lafayette County & Oxford Public Library!

Refreshments will be served and our guests are invited to be some of the first ones to check out this special exhibit, celebrating innovation across rural America.

Click the link in the comment section for more information about our reception and other programs associated with this exhibit!

10/07/2026

Our latest Community Reading Series just wrapped up a four-week deep dive into B. Brian Foster's I Don't Like the Blues. Thank you to everyone who joined us each week, Brian Foster for Zooming in and talking to our group, and Mississippi blues musicians Eddie Cotton Jr., Maya Kyles, and Lady Adrena for being on our panel discussing their work and lived experiences.

The Mississippi Humanities Council’s Community Reading Series brings together diverse groups to engage in meaningful dialogue about race, history, and identity, using literature as a bridge for shared understanding. Through facilitated discussions in safe, inclusive spaces, participants deepen their knowledge of Mississippi's past and each other’s lived experiences, fostering empathy and civic engagement.

Our next Community Reading Series will be in partnership with JXN Book Club and focus on Ralph Eubanks' When It's Darkness on the Delta.

10/02/2026

Your Attention Please will screen at Millsaps College in the Academic Complex, Room 137, on Tuesday, October 13, at 6:30 p.m., thanks to a partnership between the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Film Society. The event is free, but registration is required.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/your-attention-please-screening-tickets-2002300375323

The documentary explores algorithmic feeds, media, identity, and public trust. The program will consider how digital platforms influence what communities see, value, believe, and share.

The screening is part of Reel Intelligence: Mississippi Conversations on AI, a film-and-discussion series that places human experience—not just technology—at the center of the conversation. All screenings are free and open to the public and will be followed by a moderated public discussion examining AI and its effect on our human experience. Rather than asking simply whether AI is good or bad, the series will consider questions of power, authorship, identity, belief, memory, responsibility, and human judgment.

Future Reel Intelligence screenings include:
🎟️The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist | November 10 | 6:30 p.m. | The Capri Theatre

09/30/2026

Mark your calendars!

09/26/2026

Congratulations to the Diamond Minds at the Mississippi State Penitentiary! MHC currently sponsors 18 book clubs across 14 prisons, providing approximately 400 members with books and a facilitator for each group.

A Milestone Moment at MSP Unit 25

Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP) Unit 25 proudly celebrated its first Diamond Minds Book & Poetry Club Ceremony, recognizing the participants' creativity, dedication, and literary accomplishments.

Howard Perlow of Prison Education/Mississippi Humanities Council and Ann Fisher-Wirth, Mississippi’s Poet Laureate and Professor Emerita at the University of Mississippi, led the meaningful program.

Through their leadership, encouragement, and passion for literature and poetry, participants have discovered their voices, shared their stories, and experienced the power of creative expression.

"The Book & Poetry Club represents more than reading and writing," said Kimberly M. Meeks, MSP's director of Education. "It represents education, rehabilitation, reflection, self-expression, and transformation. Programs like this remind us that learning can reach beyond the classroom and that every individual has a story worth telling."

Join Director Meeks in congratulating the participants on the historic first Book & Poetry Club Ceremony at MSP Unit 25!

(Pictured with inmate participants are Fisher-Wirth, second from the left, and Perlow, third from the left, in the front row.)