Feb. 18, 2025-Northwest Mississippi Community College has announced English instructor Ramona Brawner has been selected as a Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC) Teacher of the Year.
The Mississippi Humanities Council has been recognizing outstanding instructors at Mississippi’s colleges and universities since 1995. Brawner is among a group of recipients who were honored statewide. She was nominated by Kristin Davis, associate vice president of Academic Instruction.
“This prestigious award recognizes educators who demonstrate excellence in teaching and a commitment to fostering a love of learning in their students,” said Davis. “Ramona Brawner has consistently demonstrated a dedication to her students and a passion for the humanities. Brawner is an exceptional educator who inspires her students to think critically and engage deeply with the world around them. She is a true asset to our college and deserving of this esteemed award.”
Northwest Mississippi Community College’s English Instructor, Ramona Brawner.
As part of receiving this honor, Brawner is required to make a public presentation in her area of expertise. She will present a lecture on Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. at the DeSoto Center as part of her duties. Brawner’s speech is about Octavia Butler’s sci-fi work which follows common themes of disaster with a thread of hope and the hope of what one individual can do.
“Whether lecturing on subject-verb agreement or on Octavia Butler’s short fiction, Ms. Brawner approaches the task with passion, dedication, and a deep commitment to fostering student success,” said Leelee Haraway, district director of instruction.
According to Brawner, she’s always loved dystopian stories and has read many books featuring the topic. She had an early attraction to sci-fi as a subject matter. She said while working at Square Books, Jr., she read a number of Young Adult dystopian books and is quite familiar with the genre.
Butler’s works feel like a more adult version of what people might expect from a Young Adult Dystopian novel like “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins or “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner, according to Brawner.
Brawner’s English Composition II class is focused on research through literature, something Brawner is especially passionate about. She said that there’s many lessons people learn through literature including critical thinking, problem solving, connections and empathy.
One of the first stories that Brawner teaches in Composition II is Butler’s “Speech Sounds.” The Hugo Award-winning short story originally published in the 1980s is about a world ravaged by a pandemic that makes people unable to understand speech and impairs their ability to read. This makes way for violence creating ruin and frustration as the few people left who can speak are hiding this ability.
Students in Brawner’s classes were initially introduced to this literature in peak COVID time. Students formed connections between their personal lives and what was happening in the lives of these characters.
Many of Brawner’s students related to feeling out of control by a disease that ravages their world, especially when COVID first made its appearance in 2020. Many of these students were inspired by the bravery of these characters to find hope in what could appear to be hopeless situations.
Throughout teaching Butler’s works, Brawner said her students have brought her new and refreshing lessons every semester, teaching her new things about the literature too. Much of these lessons are going to be featured in her presentation on Feb. 21.
“I can’t think of a more deserving instructor to receive the MHC Teacher of the Year Award,” said Dr. Keith Reed, Dean of the DeSoto Center. “Mrs. Ramona Brawner is a loyal and dedicated instructor. She cares deeply about her students and helps to transform their lives daily. We are truly fortunate to have Mrs. Brawner on the teaching staff at Northwest.”
Growing up, Brawner was an “Army brat,” so she says she’s from nowhere but now hails from Memphis. She settled in the Mid-South after studying at the University of Mississippi where she got her undergraduate degree in English literature and philosophy with an emphasis in religious studies and her master’s degree in English literature.
Outside of work, Brawner is a yoga instructor and mom of two little girls Bell, who is affectionately named after feminist writer Bell Hooks, and Birdie, with her husband Brad.
