Image: UGA's Special Collections Library is running a series of posts on faculty and students who study its materials. This week's profile features Dr. Ehlers and FRC alum Gabriel Smallwood '22, a Director's Assistant in 2020-21: For the next month, we're highlighting the amazing faculty members who have designed active learning courses through the Special Collections Libraries Faculty Teaching Fellows program. Today we spotlight Ben Ehlers, an associate professor with the History Department, and his implementation of Renaissance-era books in his lectures. What has been your favorite special collections item or group of items to use in teaching? SCL has a strong collection of Renaissance-era books, and one of my favorite works to share with students is the 1556 English translation of Thomas More's "Utopia." Why? I regularly assign this book to classes, and Raphe Robynson's translation makes for a striking contrast to modern paperback or digital editions. Having a knowledge of the book helps students to work through the sixteenth-century edition's unfamiliar font, page layout, and prefatory material. Just as a visit to the GMOA can bring us face to face with Renaissance and Baroque art, so the SCL holdings from the first centuries of the printing press allow students to hold in their hands an object from early modern Europe. Gabriel Smallwood is a senior majoring in History and minoring in Political Science on the Pre-Law track. Born and raised in West Africa (Ivory Coast and Liberia), his current hometown is McDonough, GA. His senior thesis analyzes the political career of Thomas More, from Christian humanist to Catholic martyr.
