Research Seminars

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Sujata Iyengar (English), Debra Bailey Mitchell (CED)

The EARTH 16-18 project is a multi-year, multi-university project investigating race and ecocriticism from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. The Willson Center supported a visiting public lecture and advanced seminar by the project’s co-PIs, Emmanuelle Peraldo, professor of British literature and history of 18th-century ideas, and Nora Gailland, associate professor in Early Modern British literature, both from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France.

Organizers: Cassia Roth (History), Jennifer Palmer (History)

For decades, gender history has been an exciting and innovative field of historical research. Its practitioners have opened up new methods of historical analysis and writing as well as considerably broadening ideas about who and what is considered worthy of historical study. This seminar meets on a monthly basis to discuss both foundational and cutting-edge interdisciplinary texts in gender history from various fields including philosophy, literary criticism, and history among others.

Organizers: David Diamond (English), Casie LeGette (English)

The Georgia Colloquium in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature promotes intellectual inquiry across the disciplines and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students within the department of English, and from regional and national universities, to present recent work. The colloquium has brought outstanding, internationally renowned speakers to the university, offering faculty and students the opportunity to engage with leaders in the field.

Organizers: Jorge Derpic (Sociology/LACSI), Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI Studies), Diana Graizbord (Sociology/LACSI)

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History is one of the established seminars at the Department of Sociology. The workshop provides an interdisciplinary space for research that sees meaning creation (culture) as central to the ways humans create social structure; regards inequality and struggle (power) as central aspects of our social world; and focuses on concrete actors and structures as they develop through time (history). The workshop keeps faculty and graduate students abreast of new research, and provides a low stakes arena in which they can present new ideas. Inviting external scholars to participate in our workshop is also a key opportunity for graduate students to develop networks with faculty beyond the UGA community.

Organizers: Alexander Fyfe (Department of Comparative Literature), Aruni Kashyap (Department of English), Jamie McClung (Office of Global Engagement), Esra Santesso (Department of English)

The Postcolonial Collective is a cross-departmental group of faculty and graduate students whose work intersects with the broad field of postcolonial studies. It holds regular meetings and invites local and national scholars to talk with UGA students and faculty. The Collective maintains a list of postcolonial journals with information about their acceptance rates, and a listserv to share ideas, distribute calls for papers in various postcolonial conferences, and announce events on campus. It works to make postcolonial studies more visible on campus, and to attract prospective students into PhD programs offered at UGA.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library), Sujata Iyengar (English)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizers: Joshua Bousquette (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, Linguistics Program), Chad Howe (Department of Romance Languages, Linguistics Program), Frans Weiser (Department of Comparative Literature, LACSI), Jan Zantinga (Department of Management, Terry College)

This forum is an ongoing, interdisciplinary discussion that exists at the intersection of the social institutions and individual agency that determine language use, cultural identity, and the individual’s relationship to the society at large. Open to both faculty and students, this group provides a platform for presentations and productive conversation on the often marginalized immigrant, minority, indigenous and (post-) colonial communities that comprise the fringes of our interdependent, modern society. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, this forum encompasses aspects of sociology, economics, linguistics, literature and transnational studies.

Organizers: Maryann Erigha (Department of Sociology, Institute for African American Studies)

“Cultures of Work, Labor, and Community” is a speaker series highlighting current research endeavors on cultural, artistic, historical, and contemporary representations of work, labor, and community in the arts and humanities. It is organized by the Race and the African American Image in Society Workgroup, a space for faculty, scholars, students, researchers, and peers to interrogate meanings, intersections, and interpretations of Black images and experiences across the humanities, social sciences, and the arts.

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Scott Nelson (History), Dan Rood (History), Jamie Kreiner (History), Hilda Kurtz (Sociology, and Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Cassia Roth and Jennifer Palmer (History)

For decades, gender history has been an exciting and innovative field of historical research. Its practitioners have opened up new methods of historical analysis and writing as well as considerably broadening ideas about who and what is considered worthy of historical study. This seminar meets on a monthly basis to discuss both foundational and cutting-edge interdisciplinary texts in gender history from various fields including philosophy, literary criticism, and history among others.

Organizers: Alexander Fyfe (Department of Comparative Literature), Aruni Kashyap (Department of English), Jamie McClung (Office of Global Engagement), Esra Santesso (Department of English)

The Postcolonial Collective is a cross-departmental group of faculty and graduate students whose work intersects with the broad field of postcolonial studies. It holds regular meetings and invites local and national scholars to talk with UGA students and faculty. The Collective maintains a list of postcolonial journals with information about their acceptance rates, and a listserv to share ideas, distribute calls for papers in various postcolonial conferences, and announce events on campus. It works to make postcolonial studies more visible on campus, and to attract prospective students into PhD programs offered at UGA.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizers: Joshua Bousquette (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, Linguistics Program), Chad Howe (Department of Romance Languages, Linguistics Program), Frans Weiser (Department of Comparative Literature, LACSI), Jan Zantinga (Department of Management, Terry College)

This forum is an ongoing, interdisciplinary discussion that exists at the intersection of the social institutions and individual agency that determine language use, cultural identity, and the individual’s relationship to the society at large. Open to both faculty and students, this group provides a platform for presentations and productive conversation on the often marginalized immigrant, minority, indigenous and (post-) colonial communities that comprise the fringes of our interdependent, modern society. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, this forum encompasses aspects of sociology, economics, linguistics, literature and transnational studies.

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Scott Nelson (History), Dan Rood (History), Jamie Kreiner (History), Hilda Kurtz (Sociology, and Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Kevin J. Burke (Language and Literacy Education), Julie Velásquez Runk (Anthropology); Ruth Harman (Language and Literacy Education)

Building on the University’s 2025 Strategic Plan, which foregrounds the need to “strengthen partnerships with communities across Georgia and around the world,” this seminar seeks to convene conversations on the ethical practice of community-based research.

Organizers: Cassia Roth and Jennifer Palmer (History)

For decades, gender history has been an exciting and innovative field of historical research. Its practitioners have opened up new methods of historical analysis and writing as well as considerably broadening ideas about who and what is considered worthy of historical study. This seminar meets on a monthly basis to discuss both foundational and cutting-edge interdisciplinary texts in gender history from various fields including philosophy, literary criticism, and history among others.

Organizers: Roxanne Eberle (English) and Casie LeGette (English)

The Georgia Colloquium in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature promotes intellectual inquiry across the disciplines and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students within the department, and from regional and national universities, to present recent work. The colloquium has brought outstanding, internationally renowned speakers to the university, offering faculty and students the opportunity to engage with leaders in the field.

Organizers: Jorge Derpic (Sociology/LACSI), Maryann Erigha (Sociology/AFAM Studies), Joshua Barkan (Geography)

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History is one of the established seminars at the Department of Sociology. The workshop provides an interdisciplinary space for research that sees meaning creation (culture) as central to the ways humans create social structure; regards inequality and struggle (power) as central aspects of our social world; and focuses on concrete actors and structures as they develop through time (history). The workshop keeps faculty and graduate students abreast of new research, and provides a low stakes arena in which they can present new ideas. Inviting external scholars to participate in our workshop is also a key opportunity for graduate students to develop networks with faculty beyond the UGA community.

Organizer: Robert L. Foster (Religion)

Religion and the Common Good explores how religious communities reach beyond the bounds of their own community to benefit people of other faiths or of no particular faith.  This interdisciplinary initiative builds on existing networks between faculty, students, community members, and other professionals with research, teaching, and service interests in religion’s contribution to the common good.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizer: Maryann Erigha (African American Studies and Sociology)

The Black Image Research Collective is a space for faculty, scholars, students, researchers, and peers to interrogate meanings, intersections, and interpretations of the Black image across the humanities, social sciences, and arts. The group aims to become an established seminar within the Institute for African American Studies that fosters a workshop to create a collaborative, interdisciplinary space that highlights innovative research, inquiry, and scholarship across multiple fields such as visual studies, communication, anthropology, sociology, political science, literature, language, music, film studies, journalism, entertainment studies, and media studies.

Organizers: Joshua Bousquette (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, Linguistics Program), Chad Howe (Department of Romance Languages, Linguistics Program), Frans Weiser (Department of Comparative Literature, LACSI), Jan Zantinga (Department of Management, Terry College)

This forum is an ongoing, interdisciplinary discussion that exists at the intersection of the social institutions and individual agency that determine language use, cultural identity, and the individual’s relationship to the society at large. Open to both faculty and students, this group provides a platform for presentations and productive conversation on the often marginalized immigrant, minority, indigenous and (post-) colonial communities that comprise the fringes of our interdependent, modern society. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, this forum encompasses aspects of sociology, economics, linguistics, literature and transnational studies.

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Scott Nelson (History), Dan Rood (History), Jamie Kreiner (History), Hilda Kurtz (Sociology, and Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Cassia Roth and Jennifer Palmer (History)

For decades, gender history has been an exciting and innovative field of historical research. Its practitioners have opened up new methods of historical analysis and writing as well as considerably broadening ideas about who and what is considered worthy of historical study. This seminar meets on a monthly basis to discuss both foundational and cutting-edge interdisciplinary texts in gender history from various fields including philosophy, literary criticism, and history among others.

Organizers: Roxanne Eberle (English) and Casie LeGette (English)

The Georgia Colloquium in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature promotes intellectual inquiry across the disciplines and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students within the department, and from regional and national universities, to present recent work. The colloquium has brought outstanding, internationally renowned speakers to the university, offering faculty and students the opportunity to engage with leaders in the field.

Organizers: Jorge Derpic (Sociology/LACSI), Maryann Erigha (Sociology/AFAM Studies)

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History is one of the established seminars at the Department of Sociology. The workshop provides an interdisciplinary space for research that sees meaning creation (culture) as central to the ways humans create social structure; regards inequality and struggle (power) as central aspects of our social world; and focuses on concrete actors and structures as they develop through time (history). The workshop keeps faculty and graduate students abreast of new research, and provides a low stakes arena in which they can present new ideas. Inviting external scholars to participate in our workshop is also a key opportunity for graduate students to develop networks with faculty beyond the UGA community.

Organizers: Robert L. Foster (Religion), Joshua Patterson (Institute of Higher Education)

Religion and the Common Good explores how religious communities reach beyond the bounds of their own community to benefit people of other faiths or of no particular faith.  This interdisciplinary initiative builds on existing networks between faculty, students, community members, and other professionals with research, teaching, and service interests in religion’s contribution to the common good.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizers: Joshua Bousquette (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, Linguistics Program), Chad Howe (Department of Romance Languages, Linguistics Program), Frans Weiser (Department of Comparative Literature, LACSI), Jan Zantinga (Department of Management, Terry College)

This forum is an ongoing, interdisciplinary discussion that exists at the intersection of the social institutions and individual agency that determine language use, cultural identity, and the individual’s relationship to the society at large. Open to both faculty and students, this group provides a platform for presentations and productive conversation on the often marginalized immigrant, minority, indigenous and (post-) colonial communities that comprise the fringes of our interdependent, modern society. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, this forum encompasses aspects of sociology, economics, linguistics, literature and transnational studies.

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Scott Nelson (History), Dan Rood (History), Jamie Kreiner (History), Hilda Kurtz (Sociology, and Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Roxanne Eberle (English) and Casie LeGette (English)

The Georgia Colloquium in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature promotes intellectual inquiry across the disciplines and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students within the department, and from regional and national universities, to present recent work. The colloquium has brought outstanding, internationally renowned speakers to the university, offering faculty and students the opportunity to engage with leaders in the field.

Organizers: Jorge Derpic (Sociology/LACSI), Maryann Erigha (Sociology/AFAM Studies)

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History is one of the established seminars at the Department of Sociology. The workshop provides an interdisciplinary space for research that sees meaning creation (culture) as central to the ways humans create social structure; regards inequality and struggle (power) as central aspects of our social world; and focuses on concrete actors and structures as they develop through time (history). The workshop keeps faculty and graduate students abreast of new research, and provides a low stakes arena in which they can present new ideas. Inviting external scholars to participate in our workshop is also a key opportunity for graduate students to develop networks with faculty beyond the UGA community.

Organizer: Alison Farley (Hugh Hodgson School of Music)

Music for All explores culturally relevant and responsive teaching practices in music classrooms. This seminar provides opportunities to learn from and interact with experts in the field while gaining insight into what it means to be a culturally responsive teacher. Workshops focus on how to utilize student lived experiences to enhance the music making experience and work on identifying their own culture in order to understand the culture of others.

Organizers: Robert L. Foster (Religion), Joshua Patterson (Institute of Higher Education)

Religion and the Common Good explores how religious communities reach beyond the bounds of their own community to benefit people of other faiths or of no particular faith.  This interdisciplinary initiative builds on existing networks between faculty, students, community members, and other professionals with research, teaching, and service interests in religion’s contribution to the common good.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizers: Jake Short and Jennifer Palmer (History)

The Transnational European History seminar meets monthly to discuss recent published work in transnational European history. Participants include faculty whose courses count towards the recently-developed minor in European Studies, and the scholarly engagement with cutting-edge questions fostered in the seminar will also make its way into undergraduate and graduate classrooms.

Organizers: Roxanne Eberle (English) and Casie LeGette (English)

The Georgia Colloquium in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature promotes intellectual inquiry across the disciplines and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students within the department, and from regional and national universities, to present recent work. The colloquium has brought outstanding, internationally renowned speakers to the university, offering faculty and students the opportunity to engage with leaders in the field.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizers: Yuanfei Wang (Comparative Literature), Paola De Santo (Romance Languages)

War is often represented as a male-gendered and male-dominated practice, as the opening verse of Virgil’s Æneid attests: “I sing of arms and the man.” The Women in War forum seeks to disentangle the strict association between militarism and masculinity in order to understand how women’s agency, representations, and identities are intimately associated with the human condition, as well as both collective and national identities in wartime. The overarching theme concerns the dual function of women during war: women as the object of description and exploitation in wartime literature and history, and women as subject whose writings treat politics and the practice of warfare.

Organizers: Joshua Bousquette (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, Linguistics Program), Chad Howe (Department of Romance Languages, Linguistics Program), Frans Weiser (Department of Comparative Literature, LACSI), Jan Zantinga (Department of Management, Terry College)

This forum is an ongoing, interdisciplinary discussion that exists at the intersection of the social institutions and individual agency that determine language use, cultural identity, and the individual’s relationship to the society at large. Open to both faculty and students, this group provides a platform for presentations and productive conversation on the often marginalized immigrant, minority, indigenous and (post-) colonial communities that comprise the fringes of our interdependent, modern society. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, this forum encompasses aspects of sociology, economics, linguistics, literature and transnational studies.

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Scott Nelson (History), Dan Rood (History), Jamie Kreiner (History), Hilda Kurtz (Sociology, and Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Robert L. Foster (Religion), Joshua Patterson (Institute of Higher Education)

Religion and the Common Good explores how religious communities reach beyond the bounds of their own community to benefit people of other faiths or of no particular faith.  This interdisciplinary initiative builds on existing networks between faculty, students, community members, and other professionals with research, teaching, and service interests in religion’s contribution to the common good.

Organizers: Jorge Derpic (Sociology/LACSI), Maryann Erigha (Sociology/AFAM Studies)

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History is one of the established seminars at the Department of Sociology. The workshop provides an interdisciplinary space for research that sees meaning creation (culture) as central to the ways humans create social structure; regards inequality and struggle (power) as central aspects of our social world; and focuses on concrete actors and structures as they develop through time (history). The workshop keeps faculty and graduate students abreast of new research, and provides a low stakes arena in which they can present new ideas. Inviting external scholars to participate in our workshop is also a key opportunity for graduate students to develop networks with faculty beyond the UGA community.

Organizers: Roxanne Eberle (English) and Casie LeGette (English)

The Georgia Colloquium in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature promotes intellectual inquiry across the disciplines and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students within the department, and from regional and national universities, to present recent work. The colloquium has brought outstanding, internationally renowned speakers to the university, offering faculty and students the opportunity to engage with leaders in the field.

Organizers: Miriam Jacobson (English), Anne Meyers DeVine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

This interdisciplinary seminar explores the nature of the book in all its forms, across time and space. The goals are twofold, to pose fundamental questions such as: what makes a book a book, how have cultural attitudes toward books and book making changed, are digital media recuperating or killing print media? And to investigate and analyze the various media that contribute to the production of books such as ink, e-ink, paper, screen, manuscript, print, pixels, binding, and book arts, as well as the production processes themselves.

Organizers: Yuanfei Wang (Comparative Literature), Paola De Santo (Romance Languages)

War is often represented as a male-gendered and male-dominated practice, as the opening verse of Virgil’s Æneid attests: “I sing of arms and the man.” The Women in War forum seeks to disentangle the strict association between militarism and masculinity in order to understand how women’s agency, representations, and identities are intimately associated with the human condition, as well as both collective and national identities in wartime. The overarching theme concerns the dual function of women during war: women as the object of description and exploitation in wartime literature and history, and women as subject whose writings treat politics and the practice of warfare.

Organizers: Joshua Bousquette (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, Linguistics Program), Chad Howe (Department of Romance Languages, Linguistics Program), Frans Weiser (Department of Comparative Literature, LACSI), Jan Zantinga (Department of Management, Terry College)

This forum is an ongoing, interdisciplinary discussion that exists at the intersection of the social institutions and individual agency that determine language use, cultural identity, and the individual’s relationship to the society at large. Open to both faculty and students, this group provides a platform for presentations and productive conversation on the often marginalized immigrant, minority, indigenous and (post-) colonial communities that comprise the fringes of our interdependent, modern society. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, this forum encompasses aspects of sociology, economics, linguistics, literature and transnational studies.

Organizers: Cindy Hahamovitch (History), Scott Nelson (History), Dan Rood (History), Jamie Kreiner (History), Hilda Kurtz (Sociology, and Pablo Lapegna (Sociology/LACSI)

Histories of food and farming have emerged as an important topic in recent years. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on global food supply, debates around GMOs and industrial agriculture, food deserts for minority communities in the United States, and the struggles of migrant farmworkers have all sparked new kinds of research at the intersection of history, geography, anthropology, and literary criticism. Humanistic scholars have also crossed the border into scientific fields like ecology, soil science, archeology, plant biology, genomics, and engineering.  To provide a space for the further development of interdisciplinary, historically-grounded scholarship around issues of agriculture, environment, and capitalism, the organizers of “Dirty History” have provided a constructive space both online and in real life for both faculty and advanced graduate students to workshop new ideas with other scholars already working in the field.

Organizers: Robert L. Foster (Religion), Joshua Patterson (Institute of Higher Education)

Religion and the Common Good explores how religious communities reach beyond the bounds of their own community to benefit people of other faiths or of no particular faith.  This interdisciplinary initiative builds on existing networks between faculty, students, community members, and other professionals with research, teaching, and service interests in religion’s contribution to the common good.

Organizers: Diana Graizbord (Sociology/LACSI), Patricia Richards (Sociology/Women’s Studies)

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History is one of the established seminars at the Department of Sociology. The workshop provides an interdisciplinary space for research that sees meaning creation (culture) as central to the ways humans create social structure; regards inequality and struggle (power) as central aspects of our social world; and focuses on concrete actors and structures as they develop through time (history). The workshop keeps faculty and graduate students abreast of new research, and provides a low stakes arena in which they can present new ideas. Inviting external scholars to participate in our workshop is also a key opportunity for graduate students to develop networks with faculty beyond the UGA community.

Organizer: Bill Kretzschmar with the UGA Complex Systems group (Jonathan Arnold; Stephen Berry; John M Drake; Juan B. Gutierrez; Takoi K Hamrita; Philip V. Holmes; Caner Kazanci; Jessica Kissinger; Stephen Miller; K. K. Mon; Pejman Rohani; John R Schramski; Jo Walther)

A number of UGA faculty members have come together to encourage the study of Complex Systems at UGA. “Complex Systems” is about models that look at nature or society as interacting systems with lots of small parts in which simple rules lead to emergence of patterns. Such models are likely to show nonlinear feedback and non-normal statistical properties at multiple scales of analysis, and are often learned from Big Data. Complex Systems thus offers an alternative scientific approach to the cause-and-effect science of Newton and the search for smaller and smaller constituents in modern scientific reductionism.