FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
This October three scholars from across the country will visit Florida Atlantic University’s S.E. Wimberly Library to use the Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection to conduct unique research, and present at an annual symposium.
Brandon Munda from the College of William and Mary, Sean Morey Smith from Rice University, and Jason Herbert from the University of Minnesota will spend a month at FAU before going to the world-renowned Huntington Library in California to continue their research.
While the visiting scholars are here, they will have full access to the Spirit of America Collection, which is valued at $3.8 million and has 13,000 printed items from 1501 to the Revolutionary era. The fellows can also draw on the expertise of Victoria Thur and Teresa Van Dyke in the FAU Libraries Special Collections Department.
The fellowships are made possible through the generosity of Howard and Judith Weiner, the FAU Libraries and the Huntington Library and will be administered by Adrian Finucane and Jason Sharples from FAU’s Department of History.
On October 30, the fellows will present their research and explain how it relies on examining the treasures from the collection. The 2nd Annual Spirit of America Research Symposium will be held on the Wimberly Library’s fifth floor from 4 to 6 p.m. Below you can find each of the visiting scholar’s research topic.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For more information and to reserve your seat, click here.
2019 Huntington Library - FAU Libraries Fellows:
- Brandon Munda, Department of History, The College of William and Mary
Dissertation Title: The Spyglass and the Mirror: Comparative Intelligence and Trans-Imperial State Formation in the War of Spanish Succession - Sean Morey Smith, Department of History, Rice University
Dissertation Title: Abolition and the Making of Scientific Racism in the Anglophone Atlantic - Jason Herbert, Department of History, University of Minnesota
Dissertation Title: Beast of Many Names: Cattle, Conflict, and the Transformation of Native Florida, 1513-1858
