Campus News
Grant helps students and community explore Latino history and culture Georgia Highlands College was recently selected as one of three recipients in Georgia to receive a competitive “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. Georgia Regents University and the University of Georgia also received grants. GHC Reference and Instruction Librarian Maggie Murphy explained that more than 200 libraries, museums, state humanities councils, historical societies and other nonprofits across the country were selected to receive grants. “I worked with Amy Burger, an assistant librarian for public services at the GHC Cartersville campus, to write the grant application, which required a considerable amount of research and networking with local scholars and representatives of Latino communities in Northwest Georgia,” Murphy said. As one of the 203 grant recipients selected from across the country, GHC was given a cash grant of $3,000 to hold public programming about Latino history and culture. GHC held two events in March. The first event was a screening of “Empire of Dreams,” an episode of PBS’s Latino Americans documentary, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Stephen Blankenship, GHC associate professor. It took place on the Cartersville campus in the Cartersville Student Center. Refreshments were provided by La Parrilla Mexican Catering and two GHC student organizations (La Mano and Brother 2 Brother).
The second event, a “Latino American Identities Panel,” was hosted in the Mansour Conference Center (995 Roswell St., NE, Suite 100, Marietta). The panel discussion was about what it means to be Latino in Georgia. It featured members of the local community, as well as a special welcome from GHC President Don Green. “Latino Americans have a rich and varied history and culture,” Green said, “and I’m thrilled that GHC has the opportunity to explore this topic in our community.” GHC Reference and Instruction Librarian Maggie Murphy stated that the Georgia Highlands College Libraries will use the “Latino Americans” grant award to hold four public programs in all between July 2015 and June 2016. Key themes from the “Latino Americans” series that Georgia Highlands College intends to explore in these programs include: immigration, education and the expression of identity in Latino culture. “The programming this grant will allow us to hold complements our institution’s focus on extending educational opportunities to our underserved Latino communities by providing us a forum to host events that will promote cross-cultural understanding,” Murphy said. Latino Americans: 500 Years of History, a public programming initiative produced by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA), is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square.
600 pounds of refuse removed The Etowah River is a little cleaner now thanks to over 30 volunteers, including many GHC students, who participated in an Etowah River Refuse Rally. Student organization Green Highlands sponsored the event and partnered with Euharlee Creek Outfitters and Keep Bartow Beautiful. Two crews were deployed to different sections of the River. One team paddled from Douthit Ferry to Floyd’s Landing and other covered the stretch from Euharlee to Hardin Bridge. Another crew also worked to clean the river bank at Hardin Bridge.
16 | Spring/Summer 2016