Index of University Press Releases

Oct. 4, 2007

University Press to Publish DWU Senior

Katrina M. Jarding

MITCHELL – Katrina M. Jarding, a senior public service and leadership major at DWU from Alexandria, and Donald C. Simmons, director of the Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University, are contributing authors for the forthcoming “Mississippi Encyclopedia,” to be released by the University Press of Mississippi in 2008.

“When the press contacted me about the project earlier this year, I suggested Jarding as the perfect co-author,” said Simmons. “Very few undergraduates are talented enough to publish with a university press, and it will greatly enhance her ability to get into a top graduate school.”

Jarding, who will be the first student to graduate from DWU with a major in public service and leadership, served as the student coordinator for the first-ever DWU public opinion and policy poll last spring. She was also the first student to receive the McGovern Public Service and Leadership Student Award.

“The public service and leadership major has been the perfect program for me,” said Jarding. “After studying and working with great professors like Dr. Simmons and PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson, I feel well-prepared for graduate school.”

Jarding and Simmons focused their joint research and writing for the encyclopedia on the activities of farmers in the state of Mississippi during the early twentieth century, specifically in organizing cooperatives and advocating for better schools and roads. Simmons also contributed information and edited other entries related to state politics, specifically former governors.

The “Mississippi Encyclopedia” is a collaborative project organized by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, in partnership with the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Mississippi Arts Commission, and the University Press of Mississippi. The “Mississippi Encyclopedia” will be an interdisciplinary volume, based on historical study and including contributions on literature, art and architecture, music, folk life, religion and a wide range of other themes. Consisting of one volume, it will use an A to Z format and include many illustrations. Scholars from around the country who are specialists in topics and subject matter featured in the volume were invited to participate in the project.

For more information about the public service and leadership program at DWU, visit www.dwu.edu/psl.