National and global news about Rhodes students and alums

Mariam Khayata ’22, an international studies and political science major at Rhodes College, is one of 20 students selected as a Key into Public Service Scholar by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest collegiate honor society. The new scholarship program recognizes students with a demonstrated interest in working in the public sector and a strong academic record in the liberal arts and sciences.

Dr. Shadrack Nasong'o, professor of international studies at Rhodes, is the recipient of a 2020 Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship. Through the fellowship program, he will spend two months at Egerton University in Kenya to help develop curriculum for a master’s degree program in international relations and diplomacy and to help mentor graduate students and junior faculty in social science research methods and pedagogical strategies.

Dr. Michael Nelson, a recognized Presidential scholar and the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes, is featured on the Transition Lab podcast, which is a behind-the-scenes look at presidential transitions.

She will serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia beginning January 2021. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.

It seems only natural that Margaux Moze ’20, whose namesake is a wine produced in the Bordeaux region, would develop an interest in wine. But it was an enduring interest in French culture and a semester abroad in a small town in the south of France that opened her eyes to the world of the international wine trade and the possibility of being a part of that industry.

Grant Ramey, a graduate of Rhodes College with a bachelor’s degree in economics/business (2018) and a master’s degree in accounting (2019), is one of only 137 winners of the prestigious Elijah Watt Sells Award recently announced by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The award recognizes outstanding performance on the Uniform CPA Examination.

Jessica Frankl, a senior educational studies and international studies double major from Foster City, CA, is the winner of a Fulbright U.S. Student Award for the 2020-2021 academic year. Depending on travel conditions in the fall, she will serve as an English Teaching Assistant in India.

Music industry publication Billboard named Rhodes College one of the top music business programs in the nation. Rhodes is praised for the Mike Curb Institute for Music’s hands-on curriculum, the relationship between Rhodes and Memphis musicians and recording studios, and the liberal arts foundation given to all students interested in music. These interdisciplinary programs and experiences make it possible for students of any major to participate in creative activity and prepare for possible careers in the music industry.

Scott Newstok, professor of English at Rhodes, has published a new book, How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education (Princeton University Press, 2020). The book grew out of the speech that Newstok delivered to the Rhodes Class of 2020 at their convocation four years ago.

Senior Bailey Cate, who is pursuing an environmental studies major and an urban studies minor at Rhodes, has been awarded The Steve and Riea Lainoff Crop Trust Fellowship in Honor of Cary Fowler. The 12-month fellowship is made possible through the generosity of Steve and Riea Lainoff, parents of Rhodes graduates Brian Lainoff ’11 and Mark Lainoff ’15. As a fellow, Cate will join the Partnerships team of the Global Crop Diversity Trust in Bonn, Germany, in August, depending on travel conditions at that time.