Libraries Grants Support Committee announced this week the recipients of the first Libraries Innovation Grants. Emory Libraries offered two internal grants this year, the Innovation Grant and the Mini Grant, to support innovation or the purchase of tools or training that will enrich existing library services, programs, and workflows.
This year’s recipients are:
- Ellen Ambrosone (Woodruff Library) and Anandi Knuppel (ECDS) for the project “Emory Digital Humanities Symposium: DH for the Study and Teaching of South Asia.”
- Gabrielle Dudley (Rose Library) for the project “Writing Themselves into Existence: Spelman College and Emory University Archives & Intellectual Exchange.”
According to the committee’s charter to employees, “Successful projects will be creative and innovative activities, tools, resources, and programs that enhance and support the mission and strategic directions of the Libraries and the University.” Both grants were open to all staff in Emory Libraries administered by the University Librarian, Yolanda Cooper.
Emory Digital Humanities Symposium: DH for the Study and Teaching of South Asia
Ellen Ambrosone and Anandi Knuppel will use the grant to help fund an interdisciplinary and international symposium on newly formed approaches to digital humanities in the field of South Asian Studies. The two-day symposium of panels, a workshop, and a roundtable discussion will replicate the cycle of scholarly production – one in which scholars access archives or create their own, analyze data, teach about their research, produce scholarship, and publish in some format for public consumption.
According to their proposal, “This will be the first event of its kind in the United States or South Asia. The funds from the grant will be directed toward bringing scholars from India, Israel, Europe and across the United States to the Woodruff Library, a hub for DH practices at Emory, to discuss their current research and pedagogy projects, ideas about new forms of digital publishing, and the place of DH in doctoral training with Emory faculty and graduate students.”
The event will address the disparities between the incorporation of DH into South Asian Studies versus other area studies (American Studies; East Asian Studies) and disciplines (Comparative Literature, History, Sociology, Religious Studies).
Emory/Spelman Archives & Intellectual Exchange
Gabrielle Dudley’s grant proposal involved creating an archives and intellectual exchange program between the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library at Emory University and the Spelman College Archives in relation to the personal papers of black women writers and intellectuals.
According to Gabrielle, “The Rose Library holds the personal papers of influential black women writers such as Lucille Clifton, Pearl Cleage, Mari Evans, Sarah E. Wright, Natasha Trethewey, Alice Walker and others while the Spelman College Archives is home to the personal papers of Audre Lorde and Toni Cade Bambara. The presence of these collections within the city of Atlanta not only makes it an immediate destination for research, but provides unmatched opportunities to foster original scholarship and build a scholarly and intellectual community among undergraduate students.”
“Through their coursework undergraduate students have undoubtedly studied the aforementioned writers via novels, anthologies and other published works, yet many students may not be aware that they can have a deeper and more personal glimpse into the lives of these women – all without ever leaving the city of Atlanta. Although the Rose Library and Spelman College Archives exist a mere eight miles from one another rarely have undergraduate students (at either school) utilized both institutions for their study of black women writers. The archives and intellectual exchange will heighten the awareness of undergraduate students at Emory University and Spelman College on the existence of the personal papers of black women writers and promote the use of both archival repositories for their course study.”
Thanks to everyone who applied for this cycle of funding. The committee was impressed with the volume and breadth of the applications, as well as the variety of Libraries units represented.
Applications for the next cycle of Innovation grants will be due December 15, 2017 with an award date of February 1, 2018. Please feel free to contact any member of the Committee for more information, or reach them at LIBRARIESGRANTSSUPPORT [at] LISTSERV [dot] CC [dot] EMORY [dot] EDU.
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