The initial offering of the Maymester course has grown into a multi-faceted long-term relationship that has generated an incredible amount of research, service and learning opportunities, including:

• A complete redesign of the Tsa-La-Gi Interpretive Village at the Cherokee Heritage Center by UGA students and Professor Vick.
• Groundbreaking research on Cherokee ethnobotany published in American Indian Quarterly, the premier journal of American Indian studies.
• An archaeological study of the Cherokee Heritage Center grounds by UGA archaeologists.
• A very successful national conference held at UGA in the spring of 2010, hosted by the Institute of Native American Studies.
• A gallery exhibit of student work and faculty research in the Circle Gallery in Athens, Georgia.
• An appearance on the radio talk show Newsmakers by professors Jace Weaver and Alfie Vick.
• A museum exhibit of research and archaeology related to the Cherokee Female Seminary site at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma featuring the work of UGA faculty and students.
• Several invited trips to the Cherokee Nation to meet with stakeholders, and to present aspects of the project.
• Several newspaper articles, newsletter articles and presentations related to the project.
• Annual Maymester courses.
• Several invited conference presentations and published papers.
• Opportunity for students to earn a Certificate in Native American Studies offered through UGA’s INAS.

“An experience of this magnitude deserves more description than this short essay can deliver. An entire people, their history and struggles opened in front of me as never before. Before this trip, I had believed that a voyage abroad was the only way to get a taste of a foreign culture. Little did I suspect that such a meaningful cultural experience lay right in my own backyard. By directly experiencing these environments so rich with history and ecology, I came to better understand one of the most complex, tragic and finally triumphant aspects of American history.”

— Andrew White, 2009 maymester participant

UGA Research Partners

Institute of Native American Studies

Private Research Partners

Cherokee Heritage Center

Cherokee Nation

Cherokee Nation Enterprises

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

National Trail of Tears Association

North Park University