Department of History receives $60,000 NEH grant

The Grambling State University ( GSU) Department of History has received $60,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a project titled “Voices of Grambling: Immersive Virtual-Reality Experiences.”

Project members include Edward Holt (PI), Brian McGowan, and Yanise Days. The project will also fund three student project team members and provide them with this experiential learning opportunity.

The GSU grant is part of a recent NEH announcement of $35.63 million in grants for 258 humanities projects across the country.

“ This grant represents the third grantfunded phase of our Voices of Grambling project which seeks to preserve the African American experience in north Louisiana, with a particular focus on the history of Grambling and Grambling State University,” Holt said. “Phase III is a one-year program to create virtual reality experiences highlighting historic moments on Grambling ( State’s) campus. To this end, we will have a lecture series and work with students to create a digital, historical Grambling.”

Holt said the project will provide equipment and experience to students working with cutting-edge digital technologies and trends and will provide a solid experiential learning opportunity to prepare GSU students for the jobs of the future through the study of the past.

“It is important to the university as it seeks to preserve the history of the university and create an archive for future study,” he added. “It connects what was going on at Grambling to important national trends that historic study has often discussed only in the context of other areas.”

This funding cycle includes the first round of awards made under NEH’s new Spotlight on Humanities in Higher Education grant program. Developed as part of the agency’s American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future initiative, Spotlight on Humanities in Higher Education supports humanities teaching and research projects that benefit underserved populations at small- to mid-sized colleges and universities.

“ These 258 newly funded projects demonstrate the vitality of the humanities across our nation,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe. “NEH is proud to support exemplary education, preservation, media, research, and infrastructure projects that expand resources for Americans, support humanities programs and opportunities for underserved students and communities, and deepen our understanding of our history, culture, and society.”

Livingston named Director of Career Services

Antoinette Livingston has been named Director of Career Services at Grambling State University. Having recently served as the Assistant Director, she organized and directed the 54th Lonnie Smith Career Fair. It was one of the largest and mostattended Career Fair held for a number of years at GSU.

Before coming to Grambling State University as Assistant Director of Career Services, Livingston served as the Director of Career Services and One- Stop Operations at the Southern University at Shreveport/ _

Caddo American Job Center. In addition to her career services and workforce development background, she also served as assistant professor of Sociology and as Interim Department Chair of the Sociology and Criminal Justice program at Hampton University.

The native of Brazil, Mississippi, holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Mississippi Valley State University and a master’s degree in Community Development from Delta State University.

Livingston has previously served as the Vice-President and President of the Transitions Family Violence Services Board of Directors. She currently serves on the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery Foundation’s Board of Directors.

“The first step to ensuring the career readiness of our students is to ensure that they are equipped to make informed decisions,” Livingston said. “On the most basic level, this requires the village that is comprised of the Office of the President, Intercollegiate Athletics, Academic Affairs, Finance, Student Affairs, University Operations, Alumni, and the Division of Advancement and Innovation, which houses the Office of Career Services.

“As we begin to grow this village, we harken back to the giant of the Grambling State University Office of Career Services, Lonnie B. Smith, who operated on the basis that academics and professional development were one simultaneous endeavor,” she continued. “To this end, the future of career and professional development at GSU will operate with the philosophy of building a resume from Day One. We will achieve this by collaborating with university departments and stakeholders and engaging students on every level — freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors — to develop and provide classification-appropriate work-based learning opportunities ranging from career preparation courses to job shadowing, mentoring, and internships.”