Research Resources

Libraries and Special Collections

Students have access to a rich array of department and university resources that extend to all areas of study. In addition to our first-rate library, ample permanent holdings are bolstered by an excellent interlibrary loan department and access to a vast array of electronic resources.

Our primary research facility is the Main Library, which provides access to more than 5 million holdings. The library’s electronic resources are vast and include Literature Online, American Periodicals Series Online, American Poetry 1600-1900, Project MUSE, and JSTOR, all accessible through UGA's GALILEO, the University System of Georgia's database collection.

UGA's Special Collections Libraries encompass a wide range of materials. Holdings in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library include the Manuscripts & Photographs Collection; the Georgiana Collection, documenting the history of Georgia; the Southeastern Native American Documents Collection, an assortment of some 2,000 documents and images from the years 1730-1842; and the DeRenne Georgia Library, containing printed materials relating to the early history of Georgia; a number of Civil War diaries and related papers; and an extensive broadside collection. The Richard B. Russell Library houses photographs, interview transcripts, documentary films, and other archival materials, such as the Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies.

The Digital Library of Georgia includes historic African American newspapers and books, blues and vaudeville selections from African American theater, southeastern Native American documents, including a digitized, searchable version of the Cherokee Phoenix, and other relevant databases.

The Civil Rights Digital Library provides access to an array of primary sources and educational materials across various multimedia platforms to provide an enhanced understanding of the Civil Rights Movement.

In addition to news film of the civil rights era, the Walter J. Brown Media Archives contains amateur movies, Peabody nominated and award-winning documentary programs, and television shows featuring topics in African American and Native American Studies. Finally, we provide access to such electronic resources as African American Biographical Databases, 19th-Century African American Newspapers, African American Poetry, and Ethnic Newswatch.

Other libraries on campus provide further resources, including the Art Library at Lamar Dodd and the Science Library, 

Speakers, Colloquia, and Workshops

The English Department provides additional support for areas of study by hosting lectures by eminent scholars, theorists, and creative writers. Learn more about these opportunities within and beyond the department.

The Willson Center for Humanities & Arts

The UGA Willson Center showcases faculty innovation and achievement. It encourages interdisciplinary activity and facilitates intellectual exchange between the University and the public through public programs, scholarly programs, and programs that foster student engagement and research. The Center houses programs including the Cinema Roundtable and the Global Georgia Initiative. In addition, the Center hosts lectures series and research seminars open to graduate students, including The Georgia Colloquium in 18th-and 19th-Century British Literature organized by English Department faculty, Roxanne Eberle and Casie LeGette; the History and Gender Workshop organized by History Department faculty; and Cultural and Linguistic Identity in the Americas: Immigration, Migration, Modernity organized by Linguistics, Comparative Literature, and Terry College faculty, among others.

Students interested in Material Textualities including Digital Humanities and English Language Studies benefit immensely from the Willson Center Digital Humanities Lab, known informally as the DigiLab, a creative workspace for both individual and collaborative projects with numerous technological resources and programs. Notable DH projects in the English Department include: Emma, a suite of software applications for writers designed to foster a writing community in classrooms, as well as the Linguistic Atlas Project, the site through which the Atlas distributes text and audio materials related to American English, especially using GIS tools.