��Ƶ’s newest Institute for the Humanities Fellows explore rhetoric, military history, Southern family formation

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s Institute for the Humanities announces its newest cohort of Faculty Fellows whose scholarship spans rhetorical practice, early modern French military history, and educational and workforce experiences of early married young adults in Mississippi.

Elizabeth Ellis Miller, associate professor in the Department of English; Julia Osman, associate professor in the Department of History; and Rachel Allison, associate professor in the Department of Sociology each are receiving a $1,000 stipend and one course release this semester designed to give the scholars focused time to advance major research and writing projects.

“Entering its fifth year, the Institute for the Humanities Faculty Fellowship has now supported nearly a dozen ��Ƶ faculty in the completion of books, articles and the kind of deep thinking necessary for meaningful scholarship,” said Morgan Robinson institute director and an associate professor of history. “I am excited to work with this year’s fellows, whose projects explore the past, present and future of important topics like citizenship, family and communication.”

This year’s Institute for the Humanities Fellows include:

Elizabeth Miller

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Julia Osman

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Rachel Allison

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Miller’s project “The Mothers of Rhetorical Invention: Women, Inquiry, and the Body” looks at how women throughout history have used their everyday experiences to spark new ideas. By studying examples that range from cooking and civil rights activism to time spent in nature and motherhood, Miller examines how feelings, movement and personal experience influence the way people think and create. Her work highlights the human side of idea-making and shows how creativity often begins in ordinary moments of life.

Osman’s book project “In Their Own Words: French Soldiers and the Making of the Army, Nation, and Empire, 1648-1789” uses soldiers’ letters, poetry, testimony and personal accounts to challenge long-held assumptions about early modern French military life. Drawing from newly cataloged archives and soldier-generated texts, Osman reveals soldiers as literate, expressive individuals who actively shaped the French army and the broader political world of the 17th and 18th centuries. Her work uncovers the lived experiences of rank-and-file soldiers, their influence on military reform and their surprising role in defining the French nation and empire on the eve of the Revolution.

Allison’s project “First Comes Marriage: Educational and Workforce Trajectories of the Early Married in Mississippi” is a longitudinal qualitative study of young adults who marry between the ages of 18 and 23. Drawing on six years of interviews with 125 participants, Allison investigates how early marriage influences college pathways and entry into the workforce in the rural South. Her research highlights how regional context, economic constraints and cultural expectations shape both decisions about marriage and young adults’ subsequent opportunities. With data collection complete and analysis underway, her fellowship period supports the drafting of a book manuscript under consideration by the Russell Sage Foundation.

The fellows will collaborate throughout the spring semester by sharing drafts, participating in group discussions and contributing to the institute’s mission of fostering vibrant humanities scholarship at ��Ƶ.

For more details about ��Ƶ’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Institute for the Humanities, visit and .

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