Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Pride and Prejudice: Now Showing at the USM Theatre Department

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I recently finished reading the novel, Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen that was required for the Eng 203 (World Literature) course that I am currently taking. I really enjoyed reading the novel and participating in the discussions that followed the readings. I thought it was very interesting how Jane Austen depicted the lives of individuals during that time. The University of Southern Mississippi's Theatre Department is currently showing a play on Pride and Prejudice in the Theatre Building on campus. The event is $6.00 for students to attend and it will be held through the 22nd of November. I will be attending this event on the 19th.

ASID Career Day


First Place for Hospitality Design

The University of Southern Mississippi hosted the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) South Central Student Chapter 2009 Career Day. The event consisted of multiple speakers, a luncheon, a vendor show, and a student competition. Different categories for the student competition included but were not limited to: residential, commercial, hospitality, institutional, artistic, graphic, and 3D modeling. Schools that attended the event and entered the competition included: Mississippi State, Mississippi College, Harding University, and The University of Southern Mississippi.

I was awarded first place in hospitality design for the recent hotel project I completed in my Contract II Interior Design course. The first place award received $100.00 from the ASID organization and a certificate. The hotel design that I received first place for was a semester long project that consisted of the design of a 14,000 square foot hotel located in the Historical District of New Orleans. The project included the design of a shop, a restaurant, a cocktail lounge, a guest bedroom, an accessible guest bedroom, a coffee shop, and multiple lobbies and bathrooms.

Children's Book Preview


The De Grummond Children's Literature Collection, located on the second floor of Cook Library, sponsored a two day Children's Book Preview on November 15th and 16th of 2009. This book preview gives the public a chance to see what's new in children's literature. I visited the book preview on Monday, November 16th to browse the hundreds of newly released and upcoming releases of children's books. This is a great opportunity to preview the book before buying. A few of the books that were available for preview were:

All of Me! by Molly Bang

Am I a Color Too? by Heidi COle and Nancy Vogl

All Aboard to Work - Choo-Choo! by Carol Roth

Friday, October 2, 2009

The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection

The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection was founded in 1966 by Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond who taught children's literature in the School of Library Science at the University of Southern Mississippi. The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection is now one of North America's leading research centers in children's literature with a strong emphasis on American and British children's literature. The collection includes original scripts and illustrations of over 1,200 authors and illustrators and more than 100,000 books dating as early as 1530. The collection highlights include but are not limited to: Ezra Jack Keats, African American Collection, Fairy Tales and Folk tales, Fables, Mississippi Authors, and more. The de Grummond Collection is held at the University of Southern Mississippi as part of the Special Collections.

The link to the Southern Miss de Grummond Children's Literature Collection is: http://www.lib.usm.edu/~degrum/

Kudos to the Writing Center!

The University of Southern Mississippi's Writing Center offers free access for USM students to individualized assistance with writing assignments of all types in any course. Students can receive help at any level of the writing process whether that be brainstorming, outlining, thesis development, or proofreading development. The Writing Center is located on the first floor of Cook Library in Information Services.

I want to take an opportunity to share the experiences I have had with the Writing Center here on campus. I was recently assigned a 3-4 page paper in my World Literature course on a close reading analysis of a poem. I sought help from the Writing Center twice before the paper was due. During my first appointment, we brainstormed on ideas, constructed a rough thesis, and completed an outline. This was extremely helpful in establishing my argument. During my second appointment, we discussed how to do a close reading on a couple of passages in the poem. This helped me to compile evidence to support my argument.

I am happy to announce that I received an "A" on this first paper for the semester. I encourage all students to seek assistance at the Writing Center because it has helped me receive better grades, produce stronger papers, and enhance my writing skills across the board.

The link to USM's Writing Center: http://www.usm.edu/writingcenter/

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Special Collections / McCain Library

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting McCain Library to look at a few examples of the special collections last week. In my opinion, the Miss Southern handbook was one of the most interesting documents that we discussed. The handbooks were written for incoming female students at the University of Southern Mississippi and were intended to serve as guidance in helping women adjust and prepare for college. McCain Library has four copies of ladies handbooks that date from the 1950’s and 1960’s.
The handbooks include codes of conduct, regulations, restrictions, and penalty systems for all female students at the university. For example, all females living in the dormitory had to sign in and out each time they arrived and left the building. In addition, the ladies could not be absent from the dormitory for more than five hours without special permission. The students were ordered to be in their dorm rooms at 9:15 and 11:00 p.m. each week night for room check. Lights out was at 11:30 p.m. It is uncanny to think of the rules and regulations that were placed on women in the 1960’s as compared to the lifestyles that we have now. I was shocked to realize the lack of freedom that women had in the 1960’s. The content of the book when read seemed more like a “way of life” for college women in the 1930’s or 40’s.
In my opinion, college should be something that allows a student more freedom than they have had up until that point in their life. It allows you to grow, mature and become responsible. I believe it is better if you learn this on your own rather than someone forcing rules on you as a young adult. I strongly disagree with the strict limitations that were placed on these college women of the 1960’s.

The link to the digital collection of the Miss Southern handbook (1966-67) is: http://digilib.usm.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/arc&CISOPTR=388&REC=6



Below are photos of the USM Writing Center, the Miss Southern - USM Student Handbook for Women, and the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection.