Mapping Freedom Presentations Held Following Summer Research Experience
Wed, 07/24/2024 - 08:42am | By: David Tisdale
Participants in the Mapping Freedom research project at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) include, standing, left to right: Arianna Younger, Olivia Curtis, Ramsey McManus, and Rune Taylor; sitting, left to right: Conner Sutton, Emily Vo, Mariana Ladrilleros, Cassandra Lanza, and Brandon Smith. These students, who include those from USM and other universities across the country, participated in the National Science Foundation-funded research project for undergraduates that employs mapping technology, including geographic information system (GIS) to study the pathways to freedom and citizenship taken by emancipated slaves during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
Arianna Younger, a junior sociology major and anthropology/archaeology minor at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), presents her research during the Mapping Freedom research symposium, held July 18 on the Hattiesburg campus. Funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the project provides a research experience for undergraduates employing mapping technology, including geographic information system (GIS) to study the pathways to freedom and citizenship taken by emancipated slaves during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
Nine undergraduate students from across the country, including two from The University of Southern Mississippi, participated in a digital humanities project, Mapping Freedom.
Mapping Freedom is a three-year initiative hosted by Southern Miss supported by a National Science Foundation-Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) grant examining the pathways to freedom and citizenship taken by emancipated slaves during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The project represents a collaborative effort between digital humanities and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) using mapping technology that includes geographic information systems (GIS). The paid, eight-week research experience offers opportunities, particularly for those from underrepresented and underserved populations, to conduct research showing how STEM disciplines can be employed in humanities projects.
Ramsey McManus, a sophomore history major and library science minor at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), presents her research during the Mapping Freedom research symposium, held July 18 on the Hattiesburg campus. Funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the project provides a research experience for undergraduates employing mapping technology, including geographic information system (GIS) to study the pathways to freedom and citizenship taken by emancipated slaves during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
Participants include:
- Olivia Curtis of Holden, Mass., a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College double majoring in mathematics and French, presented “Respectfully yours: The Role of Widowhood in Petitions to the Mississippi Governor During and After the Civil War.”
- Mariana Ladrilleros of Kennett Square, Penn., a junior at Millersville University majoring in anthropology and archaeology, presented “Mississippi Civil War Hospitals: Their Food Supply and the Transportation of it via Railroads.”
- Cassandra Lanza of Marysville, Penn., a sophomore at Saint Vincent College majoring in computer science and minoring in mathematics, presented “Relocation Reshaping Relationships: Impressment in Civil War Mississippi.”
- Ramsey McManus of Picayune, Miss., a sophomore at Southern Miss majoring in history and minoring in library science, presented “The Forced Labor Loophole: An Analysis of Convictions and Prison Sentences of Laboring Convicts in Reconstruction Era Mississippi.”
- Brandon Smith of Tuscaloosa, Ala., a sophomore social science teacher education major at the University of Alabama, presented “What God Giveth, Man Can Taketh Away: The Cultural Conditions of Privilege and Identity.”
- Connor Sutton of Diamondhead, Miss., a junior at Millsaps College double majoring in history and political science and minoring in Spanish, presented “‘Have those men become republicans so suddenly?’: A Study of the Republican Party in Reconstruction Mississippi.”
- Rune Taylor of Madison, Fla., a senior at the University of North Florida double majoring in history and religious studies and minoring in Africana Studies, presented “Reconstructing Congregations: African American Churches in Mississippi in the 1870s.”
- Emily Vo of Margate, Fla., a junior at Cornell University majoring in computer science and minoring in Asian American Studies and public history, presented “Levee Landscapes, Early Hospitals, and Uneven Geographies of Reconstruction Yazoo-Mississippi Delta.”
- Arianna Younger of Clinton, Miss., a junior at Southern Miss majoring in sociology and minoring in anthropology and archaeology, presented “An Examination of Ku Klux Klan Activity in Mississippi from 1865-1875.”
Learn more about Mapping Freedom.