Featured Post from Georgia Southern University

Savannah History Remix: Georgia Southern students' digital walking tours shed light on Savannah's untold stories

Nov 13, 2020

2 min


Savannah is drenched in history, but many of the city’s stories often go untold. Four Georgia Southern University history students aim to shed light on these untold stories as a part of their project, Savannah History Remix.




The project, developed by graduate students Lauren Della Piazza Hartke, R. Dalton Bryant, Noah Prince, and Dalton Blackmon, is a series of walking tours featuring lesser-known stories of Savannah’s history.


“The walking tours seemed like the safest bet and a good opportunity to learn some digital skills,” said Assistant Professor of history Alena Pirok, Ph.D., who is overseeing the project. “The tours intend to bring new and useful historical information to the city, its residents and the historical tourism industry.”


When the project began, the students identified subjects not found on commercial tours of Savannah, including modern immigration, laborers, common people of Savannah and the LGBTQ community. Hartke created the tour, “A Seat at the Table: A Social History of Savannah’s Foodways,” which revolves around the culinary history of the city.


“My goal for this project was to show how Savannah’s food scene today is the product of many years of input and contribution from many different subgroups of peoples,” she said. “I want people to understand how our notion of southern food is the product of English, West African and Native American foodways, combined with regional practices unique to Savannah’s economy and ecology.”


Pirok said the Savannah History Remix tours have more freedom than commercial tours.



“A non-profit tour like ours does not have to worry about losing customers and money,” she said. “This gives us the freedom to take more risks and to offer new, but academically sound, historical narratives that people do not find familiar or ones that might challenge their vision of the world.”



Despite COVID-19, students at Georgia Southern University are combining innovation, technology and creativity to see the projects they want to fulfill come to fruition. If you’re a journalist looking to know more about the Savannah History Remix or similar projects, simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.


Powered by

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Georgia Southern University

World Cup 2026: Georgia Southern University Experts on the Game Behind the Game featured image

2 min

World Cup 2026: Georgia Southern University Experts on the Game Behind the Game

Atlanta is one of the World Cup's biggest host cities. Georgia Southern faculty across economics, health sciences and international studies are ready to speak to the stories behind the tournament. Featured Topic The Atlanta Advantage: Regional Economics of Hosting the World Cup What it means for local businesses, tourism, and the long-term economic legacy of a host city Atlanta's World Cup moment is as much an economic story as a sporting one. Georgia Southern University economics professors Michael Toma, Ph.D., and Anthony Barilla, Ph.D., can speak to tourism revenue, infrastructure investment and what host cities actually gain — and manage —- when the world comes to town. Experts Michael Toma, Ph.D. - Regional Economics and Development Anthony Barilla, Ph.D. - Economics and Public Policy Featured Topic Playing Across a Continent: The Physical Demands of a 48-Team Tournament What elite athletes face competing across climates, time zones and a month-long schedule 48 teams. Multiple cities. Almost no recovery time. Georgia Southern health sciences and kinesiology professor Samuel Wilson, Ph.D., and sports psychologist Brandonn Harris, Ph.D., can explain how a World Cup schedule affects the human body and how elite teams prepare for it. Experts Samuel Wilson, Ph.D. - Health Sciences and Athletic Performance Brandonn Harris, Ph.D. - Kinesiology and Exercise Science Featured Topic More Than a Match: The World Cup as Cultural and Political Exchange How the world's biggest sporting event becomes a stage for diplomacy, identity, and soft power When 48 nations converge on American soil, the game is only part of the story. Political science and international studies expert Christopher M. Brown, Ph.D., can speak to the geopolitical dimensions — national identity, soft power and what it means for the U.S. to host global soccer for the first time in a generation. Experts Christopher M. Brown, Ph.D. - Political Science and International Studies

National Tick Collection Provides Front-Line Defense Against Emerging Health Threats featured image

2 min

National Tick Collection Provides Front-Line Defense Against Emerging Health Threats

A recently published article in Grice Connect highlighted the national importance of the U.S. National Tick Collection, housed at Georgia Southern University's Statesboro Campus. Home to more than one million specimens representing nearly every known tick species, the collection serves as a critical resource for researchers, public health agencies, and disease surveillance efforts studying the spread of tick-borne illnesses. The collection, owned by the Smithsonian Institution and curated at Georgia Southern University, is one of the largest and most comprehensive tick collections in the world. Researchers use it to identify emerging threats, track changes in tick populations, and better understand the diseases these parasites can carry. As concerns about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses continue to grow, the collection provides scientists with an invaluable resource for monitoring species distribution, studying disease vectors, and supporting public health preparedness. It also plays an important role in training future researchers in a field where specialized expertise is increasingly needed. Lorenza Beati, Ph.D., is curator of the U.S. National Tick Collection and associate professor at Georgia Southern University.  Her research focuses on tick taxonomy, genetics, evolutionary relationships, and the role ticks play in transmitting diseases that affect both humans and animals. View her profile The article underscores the collection's growing importance as researchers work to better understand the complex relationships between ticks, pathogens, wildlife, and human health. As environmental conditions change and tick populations expand into new regions, resources like the U.S. National Tick Collection are helping scientists stay ahead of emerging public health challenges. The collection has been entrusted to Georgia Southern since 1990 and includes more than 1 million specimens and more than 125,000 accessioned lots. Beati said the collection is probably the largest curated tick collection in the world. While she said there may be a larger collection elsewhere, she said Georgia Southern’s collection remains especially important because it is active, used for research, and supported by curatorial work. “By having two curators here, we really keep the collection very active,” Beati said. “We publish a lot, we do a lot of research on our samples. We have visitors coming from all over the world to work with us.”  June 13 - Grice Connect Covering? We can help! Lorenza Beati is available to speak with media about tick-borne diseases, tick identification, vector ecology, disease surveillance and the critical role scientific collections play in protecting public health. Her expertise can help audiences better understand the growing impact of ticks on human and animal health, as well as the research efforts underway to address these challenges.

Georgia Southern University expert available for interviews about Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday and her enduring legacy featured image

1 min

Georgia Southern University expert available for interviews about Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday and her enduring legacy

June 1 marks Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday. Despite her death in 1962, Monroe remains an icon of American pop culture. Amanda Konkle, Ph.D., researches film history, stardom and celebrity prominence. Konkle is an expert in Monroe’s rise to fame and her lasting relevance in modern style. She published the book “Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe,” along with several research papers detailing Monroe’s unique status in American history. Konkle can speak to how Monroe connected with audiences during her life by creating a new ideal of feminine power that defined an era. She can explore how Monroe’s acting methods mirrored society’s anxieties and desires, and why they still resonate today. Konkle is available virtually or for in-person interviews at the Armstrong Campus. Simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

View all posts
Powered by