Atlanta, Ga., November 16, 2016 - The Georgia Historical Society has received a grant totaling $154,921 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to host a two-week summer institute titled Recognizing an Imperfect Past: History, Memory, and the American Public.
The Institute will take place in Savannah, Georgia, June 11-23, 2017. Designed primarily for teachers of American undergraduate students, this NEH Summer Institute will engage scholars from across the nation in an exploration of how we as a country recognize, remember, and memorialize controversial people and events in the American past as viewed with a modern-day lens.
Applications are now being accepted. Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply—especially adjunct faculty, community college faculty, and first-time NEH participants. Independent scholars and those employed by museums, libraries, historical societies, and other organizations may be eligible to compete provided they can effectively advance the goals of the Institute. Additional information about the GHS Summer Institute, including information on eligibility and how to apply, can be found at imperfectpastinstitute.org.
"NEH Summer Institutes give us an opportunity to share the mission of the Georgia Historical Society in a truly meaningful way,” said Dr. Stan Deaton, the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at the Society and Project Director of the GHS Institute. "We'll be bringing college and university faculty from across the United States to Savannah to focus on issues that we're still grappling with every day. We will explore the memorialization of slavery, the Confederacy, the Jim Crow era, lynching, and the Civil Rights movement. This couldn't be more timely, and this Institute will have a major impact on the way that college and university students are learning about these subjects and on the national discussion we are having about these subjects in contemporary American society."
A highly competitive national program, NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes provide professional development opportunities in the humanities for educators. Of over 60 applications submitted nationally to NEH for this grant, only about one third were funded. GHS was one of only four successful applicants in the South and one of only three non-universities in the nation. This is the eighth NEH program grant awarded to GHS since 2008, solidifying GHS's stature as a nationally-recognized independent educational and research institution.
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ABOUT GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is the premier independent statewide institution responsible for collecting, examining, and teaching Georgia history. GHS houses the oldest and most distinguished collection of materials related exclusively to Georgia history in the nation.
To learn more visit georgiahistory.com.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
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