Garth Reese, head of special collections at the University of Idaho Library, was selected to be a participant in an academic seminar hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) this summer.
The NEH is an organization that is dedicated to education of the humanities such as literature, history and social cultures, Reese said.
Every year the NEH hosts these scholarly seminars and selects participants based on an application process. This year, Reese was selected to attend the seminar titled “Tudor Books and Readers.”
This particular seminar lasts for five weeks beginning at the end of June and will take place at several universities in Europe.
Reese said the seminar will focus on the invention and development of printing during the Tudor era of history and how it impacted the culture at the time and for future generations.
During the seminar, Reese will be researching the different kinds of books printed at the time, and look at trends in who was reading certain texts.
“It’s pretty diverse for being such a narrow topic,” Reese said.
This particular seminar was offered several years ago. However, Reese said he was unable to apply for it at the time. This year when it came back around he jumped at the chance to be a part of it.
Prospective candidates have to submit an essay and letters of recommendation to be considered for the seminar, Reese said.
The NEH seminars attract academics ranging from professor to scholars to librarians like Reese. It gives an opportunity for scholars who may have heard about each other but never met to come together in their love of academia.
“Being able to meet other scholars … and sit in a seminar with them for five weeks and really dig into this stuff is something I just don’t get a chance to do here on a daily basis,” Reese said.
He said he’s most excited to be able to conduct research in Europe where many of the texts that he’ll be looking at originated.
As the head of Special Collections and Archives at UI, Reese handles all the old and valuable texts that come through the university’s library.
The special collection is an assortment of old or valuable texts that may only have one edition ever printed.
Reese said he feels that they’re seen as something the general public strays away from, due to their value, but he is trying to build awareness that they are readily available for whoever wants to view them.
While pieces in the special collections aren’t available to check out, Reese said he encourages anyone to come and use them if needed.
The same goes for the university archives, which are a collection of the ongoing history of UI.
Amy Thompson, the library gift assistant who handles all donations that go to the library, works closely with Reese in special collections.
“Because of Garth and the rest of the people here, the special collections is one of the best places I’ve worked,” Thompson said.
Jordan Wrigley, a graduate student working as an intern for the university’s 125th anniversary, also works closely with Reese.
Both Wrigley and Thompson were happy to see that Reese had been selected to participate in a seminar that he was passionate about.
“He’s very deserving of this … it’s something he’s worked very hard for,” Wrigley said.
Jared Jonas can be reached at [email protected]