Molly McGehee, from Spartanburg, South Carolina, graduated from Davidson College with a history major and a French minor. As an undergraduate, Molly spent her summers interning for the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C. The two-week festival, which takes place on the National Mall, is a living exhibit of culture and history, including music, foodways, and arts. Molly worked as assistant volunteer coordinator and as assistant to the director. After graduating from Davidson, Molly spent the 1997-98 academic year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the Université de Nice. She brings to the program her interests in Southern literature, history, folklore, and music.

Judith Burke is originally from Sheffield, England. She graduated from the University of Nottingham in 1998, with an emphasis on English and American Studies. She is mostly interested in American Studies and spent a year as an exchange student at Ole Miss in 1995. While at Ole Miss as an undergraduate, Judith became intrigued with the South and Southern culture. Spending the summer working at Opryland heightened her interests. To pursue questions and ideas generated from her earlier experiences in the South, Judith decided to return to Ole Miss to get her master's in Southern Studies. In her free time Judith enjoys painting.

Jackson Sasser, an Alabama native, graduated from William and Mary in 1998 with a degree in history. As an undergraduate, Jackson conducted oral interviews on the rash of African American Church burnings in the South during the mid-1990s. He brings this experience as well as his interests in history, literature, and religion to the Southern Studies Program. Jackson plans to pursue a doctoral degree in history after completing his master's.

Virginia Bollinger, a native of North Carolina, earned her undergraduate degree in Southern Studies from Ole Miss in 1998. Before coming to Oxford, Virginia worked as an actor in plays as well as in films. Her first movie experience was working as an extra for Blue Velvet by David Lynch. Also a singer, Virginia won third place in the Tennessee State Blues Competition in Memphis in 1988. She also sang for rock and roll bands in Memphis during this time. Virginia's favorite singing was with the choir that performed at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on the 25th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. The spirituality of the music combined with the feeling of being in the actual place where Reverend King spent his last days created a life-altering experience for Virginia. She is considering getting her doctorate and would like to teach on the college or community college level.

Susan McClamroch had a varied career as artist and art gallery owner before receiving her B.A. in Art Business from Spring Hill College in May 1998. While living on a sailboat in the Caribbean during 1995 to 1997, Susan created prints out of old floor tile squares. Earlier, while working in New Orleans, she sold her diverse creations to gift shops around the United States and produced hundreds of Cajun Cottage pinafore aprons for K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen Catalog. Susan's gallery experience includes owing Susan Lloyd's in Biloxi and Bon Menage Galerie in New Orleans. Through the Southern Studies Program she intends to dig for deeper meanings, not of just the what but of the how and why.

Anne Evans, originally from Jackson, Mississippi, graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1995. She then spent a year as a volunteer at the Center for AIDS Services in Oakland, California. This community center, in addition to providing practical support in the form of meals, counseling, body work, and referrals, offers emotional and spiritual support for their clients, friends, and families. Anne spent a second year at the Center working in the positions of volunteer coordinator and administrative assistant. Before coming to Ole Miss to pursue her master's in Southern Studies, Anne spent a third year in California, working in a Berkeley restaurant and concentrating on her own creative writing. Anne brings to the master's program a strong interest in Southern literature.