The Mississippi Humanities Council gave Kristen K. White, chair and assistant professor of Belhaven University's Intercultural Studies Department, its 2020 MHC Teacher Award on Monday, Dec. 16. The award recognizes humanities faculty members at each of Mississippi's colleges and universities.

White worked as director of global mobilization for California Baptist University for 10 years before coming to Belhaven. She received her bachelor's degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, her master's degrees from Union University and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and her doctorate from Claremont Graduate University.

The MHC will recognize all of the award recipients at its annual awards banquet this spring. Each honoree will also deliver a public lecture relevant to their expertise.

White will give her presentation on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. in the Dr. Billy Kim International Center at Belhaven. Her lecture, "International Service-Learning: Faculty Engagement and Transformation," will be free and open to the public, and there will be a reception after the event.

UM Professors Taking Part in SEC Faculty Travel Program

The University of Mississippi recently announced that 13 of its professors will take part in the annual Southeastern Conference Faculty Travel Program, which supports research and economic development among the 14 universities that make up the SEC. The organization donated $10,000 to UM to facilitate the professors' participation.

SEC presidents and chancellors founded the Faculty Travel Program in 2012. Participating professors travel to other SEC universities to help develop grant proposals, conduct research and deliver lectures. More than 700 SEC faculty members have taken part in the program since its launch, a release from UM says. Ten professors from UM took part in the 2018 program.

The 13 UM professors in this year's program will visit eight other SEC universities before July 2020 and will focus on biology, biomedical engineering, science education and secondary education, the release says.

Cadence Bank Donates iPads to MSU's T.K. Martin Center

Cadence Bank in Starkville recently donated 20 iPads to Mississippi State University's T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability, which provides evaluations and services to assist children with learning disabilities. Cadence Bank has been a corporate sponsor for the center since 2012, a release from MSU says.

The iPads will benefit students in the T.K. Martin Center's Project IMPACT preschool program and IGNITE Dyslexia program among others, the release says. The center plans to use the devices for communication in the classroom through the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning app, as well as for occupational therapy for fine motor skills.

The center will send some of the iPads home with students as trial devices before giving them specialized personal Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices, the release says.

For more information on the T.K. Martin Center, visit tkmartin.msstate.edu.