Dr. Carol Andrews, associate professor of English at Armstrong State University, was recently selected to attend the Ernest J. Gaines Center’s 2016 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, held at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette from May 30 through June 24, 2016.

This four-week summer program, Ernest J. Gaines and the Southern Experience, allowed 25 university professors and graduate students to study the impact of Gaines’ works -- including A Lesson Before Dying, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Gathering of Old Men -- on American, Southern and African American literature. The author’s impact was explored through daily lectures from visiting faculty members and group discussions in addition to weekly screenings of films based on Gaines’ novels and visits to historic Louisiana landmarks.
 
Scholars from across the country used these experiences, along with access to the Ernest J. Gaines papers and the Louisiana Room of the Edith Garland Dupré Library, to conduct archival research related to their individual projects.
 
Andrews’ research project focused on Gaines’ treatment of aging characters in his fictional community of Bayonne, La.
 
Andrews earned a Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University and has taught at Armstrong for nearly 30 years. Her teaching and research interests in include American literature and Southern literature. In 1992, she received the university’s prestigious Brockmeier Award for her service to students and to the Armstrong community.