Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State graduate now teaching in Meridian is the winner of a top regional honor for her master's degree thesis.
Natalie A. Nations recently was selected to receive the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools' 2013 Master's Thesis Award in the humanities-fine arts category.
The award recognizes the most outstanding student thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of a master's degree in this category during the past two years.
Nations, who received a master's in English at the conclusion of MSU's 2012 spring semester, teaches English II, creative writing and public speaking in the Meridian Public Schools.
Formerly of Trussville, Ala., she will receive $1,000 and be recognized formally during the CSGS's annual meeting Feb. 21-24 in Greenville, S.C.
"Defining Freedom: A Historical Exploration of Richard Wright's 'Black Boy,' Alice Walker's 'Meridian' and Ernest Gaines' 'The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'" is the title of her thesis.
The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools represents more than 200 universities and colleges in a 15-state region stretching from Maryland and the District of Columbia to Oklahoma and Texas. For more, visit www.csgs.org.
In expressing her gratitude for being chosen, Nations said she felt "that my thesis dealt with important issues of the past and of today in regards to race and the need to continue our individual efforts to establish equality.
"I hope this award will prove to my students that hard work and dedication to school can pay off and provide major recognition," she added.
Nations also holds a bachelor's degree in English from Samford University in Birmingham.