Gulf Scholars 2026/27 Cohort Introductions: Lillee Crider
Preparing Gulf-South Change-Agents for a Sustainable Future
The challenges to achieving a sustainable Gulf begin with upstream communities that live in the Gulf watershed that includes the University of Mississippi. The overarching goal of the UM Gulf Scholar Program (UM GSP) is the cultivation of critical thinkers and practitioners who can interrogate inequitable and unsustainable social, cultural, and economic structures, ideologies, and policies, while envisioning and implementing sustainable alternatives.
The program’s conceptual framework stresses students’ roles as global citizens working in specific environments to solve complex, multi-faceted issues that resist simple solutions. By integrating perspectives from the humanities, arts, sciences, social sciences, and engineering, the program enables a multidisciplinary education that encourages students to approach problems holistically.
Academics
Coursework, Travel, & Capstone
Gulf Scholars complete Environmental Challenges in the Gulf South, a core course examining the region through environmental, historical, cultural, and community-centered perspectives. Students also select additional courses from a cross-campus roster that supports their individual interests and capstone work.
The program includes an immersive travel experience linking the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf Coast, helping students understand the connections among watersheds, communities, ecosystems, economies, and cultures across the region. At key points during the program, Gulf Scholars connect remotely and in person with students at Gulf Coast Community College to learn from one another’s experiences and perspectives.
Working with faculty mentors, students develop a place-based capstone project related to an issue or opportunity in the Mississippi Delta or Gulf region. These projects give scholars an opportunity to apply their academic interests, engage with communities, and envision sustainable, equitable futures for the Gulf South.
Student Cohort
Gulf Scholars represent a wide range of majors, experiences, and connections to the Gulf South. Students may come from the sciences, humanities, arts, business, engineering, environmental studies, and other fields.
This diversity is central to the program. Through cohort-building activities, book discussions, lectures, film screenings, and community-engaged experiences, scholars learn from one another and build a shared understanding of the region’s challenges and possibilities.
Affiliated Faculty & Staff
The Gulf Scholars Program will have an interdisciplinary curriculum. Faculty from departments across the University of Mississippi campus will participate.
