Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

Nine­ University of Georgia faculty members are preparing new classes this May as 2024 Special Collections Faculty Teaching Fellows, a program designed to help instructors incorporate UGA Libraries’ archival materials and active learning strategies into courses.

The new cohort reaches a broad spectrum of academic areas, from art, history, and agricultural leadership, education, and communication to social work, health promotions and behavior, and economics. The faculty members’ wide range of disciplines reflect the breadth of UGA’s special collections, ensuring interaction across the Athens campus as well as students at UGA’s Tifton campus.

A University of Georgia doctoral student will focus on stories of Athens’ diverse communities this summer during the inaugural term of the Hargrett Library Fellowship in Local History.

Theodora “Tedi” Light, an Athens native who is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in history at UGA, will help grow and increase public access to the Athens African American Oral History Initiative during her fellowship, a new opportunity available thanks to a donor to the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

As part of the annual Congress Week celebrations, the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies will host former U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH) and former USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley. The speakers will discuss democracy building, international development, and the continuing importance of civic engagement and public service. The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Special Collections Libraries’ auditorium and is free and open to students, faculty, and the community.

“We look forward to Congress Week every year. It's an opportunity to provide significant programming that promotes a better understanding of the branch of government closest to the people, said the director of the Russell Library Sheryl Vogt. “Our experienced speakers promise an engaging discussion on building and sustaining democratic institutions at home and abroad.”

Story from our partners at the College of Family and Consumer Sciences 

The University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries will host a Native college president and a lauded Black history professor during Women’s History Month this March.

First, Dr. Sandra Boham, president of Salish Kootenai College and an accomplished leader in American Indian higher education, will present the annual Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture in honor of the nation’s first women in Congress. The free event will be held Wednesday March 13 at 3 p.m. and is sponsored by the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

In the 21^st century, libraries don’t just store information on shelves — they also use servers. UGA Libraries recently reached a major milestone in its digital preservation of unique materials, eclipsing 1 petabyte of storage in its ARCHive.

Three UGA professors have been named the inaugural recipients of UGA Libraries’ Fairchild-Holcomb Awards for Innovation in the Humanities. The seed grants, totaling $8,600, will kick-start projects aimed at creating educational materials and a podcast or documentary drawing upon archival materials from UGA’s Special Collections Libraries.

The University of Georgia Libraries are pleased to announce the naming of three new leaders who join University Librarian and Associate Provost Toby Graham in providing direction-setting and oversight for the libraries.

Newest to UGA is Sara Wright who started her role as Associate University Librarian for Learning Services and Academic Engagement in January. Wright formerly served as director of Cornell University’s Mann & Science Cluster Libraries, and her career at Cornell included stints as Academic Technology Librarian; Head of User Services and Engagement; and Head of Learning, Spaces, and Technology.

The University of Georgia Libraries and the Center for Teaching and Learning invite full-time UGA faculty from all disciplines to apply to participate in the 2024 Special Collections Libraries Faculty Teaching Fellows program. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m., January 16, 2024.

Now in its tenth year, the program brings together a select group of UGA faculty to explore archives-based learning as a high-impact active learning practice through intensive workshops with specialists from the University’s three special collections units and representatives from the Center for Teaching and Learning. Seventy-five faculty from across campus have completed the program.

In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak put the brakes on visits to UGA Special Collections Libraries, where an exhibit was set to take Georgians on a road trip through the history and politics of the state’s interstate highways.