“We’ve seen syphilis used again and again as a tool over the centuries to demonize and stigmatize socially marginalized communities,” Zuckerman says. “That’s the narrative that’s dominated.”

One of this fall’s graduates at Mississippi State University never imagined he would receive the MSU undergraduate degree he worked on 60 years ago.

Mississippi State’s Institute for the Humanities will spotlight innovative faculty research during its annual Fellows Presentation Showcase April 23.