In an effort to preserve the cultural diversity of the South Atlantic region, Virginia Tech and the University have set aside their usual competitiveness to join with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
The three groups came together to form the South Atlantic Regional Humanities Center, which opened in Charlottesville on Tuesday.
The National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent grant-making agency of the U.S. government, designed and funded the project.
"The National Endowment for the Humanities used juries to judge all presentations, and eventually identified the Virginia Foundation's proposal as the best in the group," President John T. Casteen III said.
A total of 12 applicants applied for the grant. There were many joint applications, however, the University, Virginia Tech and VFH created the only three-way partnership to submit an application, said Andrew Chancey, planning project coordinator of SARHC.
The trio came together because of the complimentary nature of their resources.
"None of us could have hoped to do this alone," Casteen said. "The Foundation is able to be more entrepreneurial and less place-bound than either Virginia Tech or U.Va is, but it lacks the libraries, scholarly strengths and range of activities that the two universities bring."
Planning for the new center began three years ago, when the NEH divided the country into 10 regions of culture. Competitions then were held to identify a site for a cultural center to be built within each region.
In general, the regional centers are meant to identify, recognize and promote regional distinctiveness, Chancey said.
The center that is based in Charlottesville will begin by forming a network of scholars and cultural experts through academic research and publications, exhibits, film, radio and Internet technologies, said Anita Puckett, professor of interdisciplinary studies at Virginia Tech, who aided in bringing the center from paper proposal to real-life construction.
SARHC eventually plans to reach out to include transatlantic partners as well, she said.
The center also is expected to have many positive benefits for Charlottesville.
"It will attract visiting scholars and the general public to Charlottesville," Casteen said. "Its programs and presentations will create tourism and visitation possibilities."
The center also will afford faculty and students the opportunity to lead and participate in the programs.
SARHC will be focusing on six specific areas of study, ranging from historical patterns in culture to race identity.
"We've made commitments to create a new model of communication regionally," Puckett said.
In order to help fuel this development, the center plans to make use of the many media tools and resources that the collaboration will provide, such as Virginia Tech's digital library project and Alderman Library's collection of manuscripts and rare books.
Overall SARHC has created a rush of excitement and enthusiasm in hopes that it will enable people to better understand what the United States is all about, Puckett said.
"In a country that is increasingly homogeneous, it's important to identify, recognize and promote regional distinctiveness," Chasey added.
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