For 17 years, Elvira Anne Mitchell has taught language arts at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jefferson Davis Campus in Gulfport. In that time, she’s established a reputation as an expert on pop culture. As the campus’ 2008 recipient of a Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC) Teachers Award, she will present “I Don’t Read – I Live,” a lecture concerning media literacy and its connection to pop culture. The program, being held in honor of her MHC award, is set for Nov. 20 at 12:30 p.m. in G121 at the JD Campus. A reception honoring Mitchell will follow.
The MHC celebrates Arts and Humanities Month each October by giving Humanities Teacher Awards to one outstanding humanities faculty member at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning. This year, 27 teachers received the awards. The winners will present public lectures on topics in their fields for students, colleagues and the general public during the months of October and November. They will also be honored at the MHC Annual Public Achievement Awards Ceremony Feb. 27, 2009.
“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Mitchell said. “It is a challenging and exciting time to be a teacher.” Mitchell, who received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Lehman College of the City University of New York and her Master of Arts degree in English and communication from Fordham University in New York, has also completed coursework for her doctorate.
National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Held every October and coordinated by Americans for the Arts, it has become the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation.
