University of South Alabama College of Arts and Sciences

06/17/2026

Two Arts and Sciences students at South were awarded the 2026 Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant. The annual scholarship is only awarded to 75 students nationwide.

Matthew Laub of Front Royal, Virginia is a criminal justice major who will study in the United Kingdom. After 23 years in the U.S. Coast Guard as a helicopter rescue swimmer, he became a full-time student at South with the help of South's Office of Adult Learner Services.

Mary Helene Marmande of Mobile is a chemistry major who will study in Nagoya, Japan. Earlier this spring, she was named a prestigious Goldwater Scholar for 2025, one of only nine students in the state of Alabama to receive the award.

06/15/2026

The TriBeta Biology Honor Society at South has capped off a successful first year as an official chapter, winning multiple awards at the National TriBeta Convention. Five of the 10 students who attended presented their research.

06/05/2026

Music Professor Robert Holm joined his students at the Fairhope Yacht Club where they performed favorite showtunes for members. From left to right: Lydia Van Cleave, Marisol Hoffmann, Kathryn LaFrance, Joy Bagwell, Joshua Turner, Kendric Stevens and Hunter Tyon.

South's music department is raising funds to become an All-Steinway School. You can support the initiative at https://heyor.ca/RI6hRH

06/04/2026

Thanks to federal and institutional grants totaling $11.7 million, a team of 20 scientists from more than a dozen institutions, along with two NOAA Fisheries collaborators, contributed to a study to count amberjack populations.

The count was lead by Dr. Sean Powers, fisheries ecology professor and director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of South Alabama. Researchers spent three years conducting underwater video and active acoustic surveys to estimate the abundance of greater amberjack in the Gulf and U.S. South Atlantic. https://heyor.ca/xhU1zY

06/03/2026

Twelve students from English Instructor Karen Whiddon Peterson's World Literature After 1650 class studied abroad in Italy earlier this month! They had adventures in Venice, San Terenzo and Rome ✈️

Participating students included: Addy Belk, Riley Clements, Callie Conkle, Kiersten Jackson, Kaylin McGinnis, Skillet Newman, Lily O'Neal, Hannah Quick, Ariana Rice, Hannah Rohe, Morgan Rowe and Mary Virginia Whatley 🌍

06/01/2026

Congratulations to South animation students from the art and art history department who recently won awards at the Sidewalk Scramble's 48-hour film competition. They were the only teams working in the animation genre, which is a particularly challenging feat in such a short turnaround.

The first team, coordinated by Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator Karl Jahnke, was made up of four graduate students in the MFA in Creative Technologies and Practice: Terrell Griffith, Diana Dyer, Johnathan Clair and Sydney Sullivan. They earned the Honorable Mention award “Most Faithful to Genre” for their CGI animated short, Medical Procedural Drama Season 48 Episode 67.

The second team, coordinated by Assistant Professor John T. Hill, was made up of 13 undergraduate students: Lih Cunha Rohleder, Harper Russell, Nathan Vo, Kriner Kriner, Jami Davenport, Jalen Wilson, Remy Colbert, Adriana Vazquez Machado, Adrienna Edwards, Emily Brainerd, Brianna Lipford, Lilith Shamback and Emma King. They were awarded the Jury Prize for their 2D animated short, Scrambled in Space. They also earned the Honorable Mention prize for “Best Sound Effects.”

Sidewalk Film

05/29/2026

The Public Relations Council of Alabama has joined forces with South to form a student chapter. University of South Alabama Department of Communication Senior Emily Jansen is leading the effort along with Mr. Johnny Stevens, communication instructor, who will act as faculty advisor for the chapter.

PRCA professionals act as mentors and advisors, attending workshops to sharpen their skills, networking with others and sharing their insights with peers in their community. The new student chapter will connect students to professional development, networking and industry engagement.

Jansen interned for Mobile’s PRCA chapter this past spring as part of the Emerging Practitioner Program. She and other student interns were selected into the program to help plan and staff the 2026 PRCA State Conference.

05/20/2026

The Department of Music has announced the 2026-2027 recipients of endowed music scholarships. Congratulations to these students:

Presser Award - Marshall Waites
Laidlaw Scholars - Marisol Hoffmann, Katie Wallace, Marshall Waites, Joy Bagwell
John W. Laidlaw Scholarship - Drake Miller
Harper Scholarship - Landon Roberts
Faulkner Scholarship in Piano Performance - Lydia Van Cleave
Hanlein Piano Scholarship - An Nhi Cao
Wasserman Piano Scholarship - Joy Bagwell
Chester Piano Scholarship - Luke Flowers, Matthew Diffey, Nicasio Montelara-Demick
Ann Greer Adams Piano Scholarship - Mary Helen Marmande
Toomey Percussion Scholarship - Nathanael Slater
Bartels Percussion Scholarship - Ryan Wright
Papastefan Percussion Scholarship - Jacob Alexander, Collin Westland
Bohnet Flute Scholarship - Jaishon Robinson
McGowin Strings Scholarship - Genevieve Batman
Nita Sellers Voice Scholarships - Ethan Hudson, Kendall Thompson
Rose Palmai - Tenser Voice Scholarship - Emily Dickson
Orland Thomas Music Education Scholarship - Sarah Harlin
Gruner Trombone Scholarship - Nathan Sansom
Alexis Atkins JMB Scholarship - Jayda Gregson, Nevaeh Green
Mellick Trumpet Scholarship - Ryan Perry
Jim and Jamie Self Tuba Award - Jaxson Salter
Mobile Big Band Scholarship - Micah Philen, Tristen Bodiford
Jimmy Buffett Memorial Scholarship - Landon Roberts, Ilana Jensen
Aubrey Green Scholarship - Duyen Tran, Michael Madera

Please contact Dr. Laura Moore at [email protected] for more information on endowing a new scholarship, or contributing to a current scholarship. You may also give at https://heyor.ca/UG0ZXr

05/18/2026

Last week, USA student organization Generation Action was awarded a Mobile community health leadership award from the Mobile Medical Museum. The award was accepted by (left to right) Ellen Hamby, biomedical sciences major and incoming president of Generation Action; Paige Willson, international studies major and recent graduate, founder and outgoing president of Generation Action; and Harper Higdon, biology major and graphic designer for Generation Action.

05/15/2026

The University of South Alabama’s Common Read/Common World book selection for 2026-2027 is “Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection,” by New York Times best-selling author John Green 🩻 🌍

“Highlighting the book’s wide appeal, it was nominated for review by a student committee member and faculty from the USA College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences," said said Dr. Susan Ferguson, co-chair of the Common Read Committee and assistant professor in the Department of Leadership and Teacher Education at South Alabama. https://heyor.ca/skyZYI

The University of South Alabama’s Common Read/Common World book selection for 2026-2027 is “Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection,” by New York Times Best-Selling Author John Green.