|
Research including more than 60 video interviews with civil rights
figures and leading public officials from Georgia and around
the country is showcased on a new Web site for the Foot Soldier
Project (FSP) for Civil Rights Studies.
Cofounded in 2000 by University of Georgia faculty Maurice
C. Daniels, dean of the School of Social Work, and Derrick
P. Alridge, associate professor of education, the FSP seeks
to illuminate, through oral history and documentary filmmaking,
the social activism of unsung participants of the American
civil rights movement.
In 2001, the FSP forged a partnership with the Richard B.
Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, a modern
political archive at UGA. This partnership established the
Russell Library as the official repository for materials created
and gathered by the FSP. Today, the FSP faculty has grown to
include faculty from a broad spectrum of scholarly interests.
The Web site was developed by the Research Media service
center (a department within UGA’s Office of the Vice
President for Research), the Richard B. Russell Library for
Political Research and Studies and members of the Foot Soldier
Project. The FSP Web site will be hosted by UGA’s Research
Computing Center and its content will be maintained by the
Russell Library.
OVPR fostered this collaboration as a way to provide the
FSP with a strong visible presence on the Internet to help
in raising external funding to support the further development
of the FSP. Gordhan Patel, vice president for research, provided
funds to enable the Russell Library, the official repository
for FSP, to purchase the equipment required to manage the access
and preservation of FSP’s growing collections.
“The FSP Web site also includes the Foot Soldier curriculum
that will provide lesson plans, bibliographical information
and access to primary research materials for K-12 students,” said
Alridge. “A critical component of the Foot Soldier Project
is our effort to reach and educate children about the contributions
of the many ordinary people who participated in the civil rights
movement and social justice activities. The Foot Soldier curriculum
link to the Web site is a work in progress, and we will be
collaborating with K-12 teachers in its development.”
In addition to Daniels and Alridge, the FSP research faculty
includes:
• Dwight D. Brooks, associate professor in the Grady College
of Journalism and Mass Communication at UGA
• Vicky Crawford, associate professor of history at Clark Atlanta University
• Cheryl Dozier, associate professor of social work at UGA
• Tracey D. Ford, assistant dean of students at UGA
• Amy Gellins, attorney and executive director of the Athens Justice Project
• R. Baxter Miller, professor of English and director of the Institute for
African American Studies at UGA
• Sheryl Vogt, director of the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research
and Studies
• Jill Severn, access and outreach archivist at the Richard B. Russell Library
for Political Research and Studies
Competing
in a Global Economy
The University of Georgia is at the forefront of the globalization
movement in higher education with a wealth of opportunities for
international experiences. Our students are flocking to study-abroad
programs, thriving on the challenges inherent in confronting a
new cultural environment. More and more, students on campus are
also making choices that reflect an understanding of the importance
of global awareness—from living in a residence hall-based
language community to starting a radio program in another language
to minoring in a foreign language. These experiences, whether at
home or abroad, influence how our students perceive the world and
their place in it. We’re producing graduates prepared to
be world citizens—well informed, culturally sensitive and
technologically sophisticated. They’re ready to take on the
challenges of our global society, and they’ll be equally
at home whether in the Peach State or the Republic of Georgia. |
The
Foot Soldier Project is the subject of a new website that seeks to
illuminate the social activism of unsung participants of the American
civil rights movement.
