Here in Mississippi

Here in Mississippi, where I have taught for the past year,

the holy trinity for most is family, football, and church. 

This model presents me with a unique teaching opportunity

in a region dominated by sports and Baptists.

Many of my students are able to accept only two of three

dominant search modes for universal understanding: Theology, Science, or Art.

 Though all three strive to order the raw data of our perceptions

into familiar structures, many a young Mississippi student cannot reconcile

faith and evolution, or self-expression and service to community.

In New Jersey, Indiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi,

I have encountered a common challenge:

in order to teach effectively,

I must learn the cultural language that my students speak

as I speak to them in the language of contemporary visual arts.