I am a partner in the Jackson office of Jones, Walker, a multi-state law firm headquartered in New Orleans. I practice primarily in the areas of creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, and commercial litigation arising out of the debtor/creditor relationship. Much of the legal work I perform is for banks and other lenders; I also do quite a bit of work for commercial landlords. I live in Madison, Mississippi, with my wife and two children.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how the sociology program at Ole Miss has affected my work life and law practice. The short answer is that there is no direct relationship. Representing creditors in the business world, in business disputes, is far removed from graduate work in sociology. Notwithstanding that shorthand response, the longer answer is more complex. Attending graduate school in sociology at Ole Miss, along with studying, working, and playing with the faculty and other graduate students was one of the great formative experiences of my life. When I look back at “the good old days,” that period of time was the good old days for me. Let me rattle off some examples: serving as Vaughn Grisham’s graduate assistant, and participating for two years in his leadership development group; getting out of hand (to put it politely) at conferences with Larry DeBord, C.B. Hopper, and Michael Reese; having long hair and writing a weekly column for the Daily Mississippian; studying theory and learning to write concisely under Gary Long; the bull sessions in the sociology lab in the basement of Bondurant Hall; . . . . The list goes on, and I smile fondly when I think of those days, which is often.
Moreso than providing any concrete job skill, my MA in sociology took me to a new level of understanding of – to borrow part of a definition of sociology here – human society and social interaction. For me, it’s not a work skill. It is a life skill.
Getting my masters degree at Ole Miss was a great choice. I’m now teaching anthropology at a community college in Florida, which was the reason I went for my MA in the first place. Although I’d majored in anthropology as an undergraduate and worked in the field for four years prior to starting my MA, once I got on the “other side of the chalkboard,” I realized my grasp of the subject had increased significantly after being at Oxford.
I graduated in 2006 with an MA in Anthropology and the kind of preparation that only a department as uniquely focused as the University of Mississippi’s can provide. The faculty’s open-door policy and commitment to teaching encouraged my development as a beginning researcher and laid the foundation for professional relationships that have continued into the present. I was able to work with the Center for Archaeological Research on a number of research projects throughout the Southeast, many utilizing the innovative geophysical techniques the Center is known for. My thesis research focused on political aspects of the mound building practices of people living in the northern Yazoo Basin in the mid-15th century. After graduating from Ole Miss, I entered the Ph.D. program at the University of North Carolina, where I have worked with the Research Labs of Archaeology on projects in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Peru. I am excited to get back to the Delta for my dissertation research and look forward to continuing collaborations with the Anthropology Department at Ole Miss.
After graduating from Ole Miss in 2004, I landed a fantastic job as an Archaeologist/ Principal Investigator at a major Cultural Resource Management consulting firm in Austin, Texas. Every job–whether a bridge replacement, pipeline, or land development project–consists of the same basic approach that mirrors the work that goes into an Ole Miss Master’s thesis: conduct archival and historic background research, perform field survey, analyze findings, and draft reports including conclusions and recommendations. Every report is almost like a mini-thesis. My Ole Miss grad school experience gave me a great professional training in CRM, as well as the confidence to use these skills to run projects of my own. My job takes me to different places around the country to conduct research, and what makes it particularly fun for me is exploring a variety of contexts and figuring out solutions to new challenges on a day-to-day basis. 
After I graduated from Ole Miss in 2007, I got involved with the Student Conservation Association, which sponsors internships for students in conservation, preservation, and interpretation. I had the unique experience of spending the summer at Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park as a living history interpretation intern. After Death Valley, I moved to Lava Beds National Monument, where I worked as an interpretation intern and librarian. Thanks to my degree from Ole Miss and being accepted into a graduate program, I was hired as a National Park Service interpretation ranger I used the skills and knowledge that I gained at Ole Miss every single day as a ranger. My job required working with local American Indian groups and interpreting their culture for visitors; what I learned at Ole Miss was a crucial starting point for that work. Classes at Ole Miss also taught me how to research, something that is critical to working in any kind of academic field. After leaving the Park Service, I joined the Department of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University as a graduate assistant. The anthropology program at the University of Mississippi more than prepared me for graduate school. I am very thankful that I went to Ole Miss- it’s one of the best things I could have done for my career. 
I graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2003 with a Master’s Degree in Anthropology, having gained the necessary theoretical and methodological knowledge needed for a successful career in that field. My goal upon graduation was to work at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), the state agency that serves as the central information center for all of Mississippi’s archaeological information. I achieved that goal and currently serve as the Chief Archaeologist and Curator of Archaeological Collections at MDAH. While at Ole Miss, I had the opportunity to work with many professionals in Mississippi archaeology, with various American Indian tribal representatives, attend state and regional conferences, and participate in cultural resource management work. Not only did Ole Miss provide the appropriate curriculum to prepare me for a career in my field, I also received hands-on experience in archaeology and was able to work with remote sensing technology and other tools of the trade that are so vital in today’s archaeology. These experiences at Ole Miss not only prepared me for the job I have now, but they also fostered friendships and connections that continue to benefit me on a daily basis. As the Chief Archaeologist for the state, my job includes working with various federal, state and local agencies; consulting with American Indian tribes; developing programmatic agreements, memoranda of agreements; coordinating the Mississippi Archaeological Research Grant program; reviewing cultural resource survey reports and assessments; and serving as curator of the state’s archaeological collections. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to attend and graduate from Ole Miss and encourage all future archaeologists to apply.
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