The Georgia Humanities Council presents a guidebook with cultural, historical, and regional coverage of Georgia

"A project of the New Georgia Encyclopedia"

The indispensable guide to the best the Georgia mountains have to offer.

Georgia lies between Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. This small Caucasian country is used to playing a significant role in global geopolitics, and its strategic location at the crossroads of different civilizations has been a curse as well as a blessing. Once a battlefield of the Christian and Muslim worlds, today it is caught between its NATO aspirations and its location in Russia's backyard. The Silk Road brought the best of the world to Georgia. Its ancient Christian culture shows the influence of Arab, Persian, and Ottoman conquerors. Combined with this is a southern, "Mediterranean" feel, traces of the Soviet legacy, and a strong Western influence. What awaits the visitor is a unique culture that goes back thousands of years. Georgia has a rich historical heritage, wonderful food and wines, unforgettable scenery, authentic folk music and dances, an attractive business climate, and an educated and hospitable people for whom indulging a guest is more a religion than a duty. Culture Smart! Georgia offers invaluable insights and practical tips for tourists and business people alike. The author, Natia Abramia, guides you through the past and present-day realities of her motherland, explaining what makes people tick, how they live and feel, and how to get on with them. You will discover that the Georgians will not let you down. Learn how to reach their hearts, and they will charm you back.

Through the Arch captures UGA's colorful past, dynamic present, and promising future in a novel way: by surveying its buildings, structures, and spaces. These physical features are the university's most visible--and some of its most valuable--resources. Yet they are largely overlooked, or treated only passingly, in histories and standard publications about UGA. Through text and photographs, this book places buildings and spaces in the context of UGA's development over more than 225 years. After opening with a brief historical overview of the university, the book profiles over 140 buildings, landmarks, and spaces, their history, appearance, and past and current usage, as well as their namesake, beginning with the oldest structures on North Campus and progressing to the newest facilities on South and East Campus and the emerging Northwest Quadrant. Many profiles are supplemented with sidebars relating traditions, lore, facts, or alumni recollections associated with buildings and spaces. More than just landmarks or static elements of infrastructure, buildings and spaces embody the university's values, cultural heritage, and educational purpose. These facilities--many more than a century old--are where students learn, explore, and grow and where faculty teach, research, and create. They harbor the university's history and traditions, protect its treasures, and hold memories for alumni. The repository for books, documents, artifacts, and tools that contain and convey much of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of human existence, these structures are the legacy of generations. And they are tangible symbols of UGA's commitment to improve our world through education. Guide includes 113 color photos throughout 19 black-and-white historical photos Over 140 profiles of buildings, landmarks, and spaces Supplemental sidebars with traditions, lore, facts, and alumni anecdotes 6 maps

Abundantly illustrated with more than 400 color photographs and 200 detailed drawings, this comprehensive guide to the state's rare and endangered plants provides photographs and botanical illustrations in a single volume formatted for field use. More than 200 species are covered, including two dozen that are federally listed and 170-plus that are listed as Threatened, Endangered, Rare, or of Special Concern by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The guide is designed for easy, nontechnical identification of species in the field. Color photographs show the plants in their natural surroundings, and drawings emphasize the most distinctive parts of the plants. Packed with information about the plants as well as their habitats and management, the guide facilitates the quick recognition of rare species, encourages awareness of their distribution and ecological significance, and provides guidelines for ensuring their survival. Additional features include directions for using the guide, a map of Georgia's counties, descriptions of the natural communities of Georgia, references for further reading, a glossary of frequently used terms, and indexes of scientific and common plant names. The guide also includes a chapter by Jennifer Ceska and University of Georgia horticulture professor James Affolter, founding members of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, on horticultural requirements of rare species and the role of GPCA in their protection. This is a valuable resource for students, wildflower enthusiasts, botanists, land managers, and environmental decision makers. Each species account includes: one or more full-color photographs Georgia distribution map line drawing emphasizing such key field identification characters as leaf, stem, flower, and fruit scientific and common names legal and wetland status brief nontechnical description emphasizing key field identification characters flowering, fruiting, or sporulation period description of species habitat information on best survey season range-wide distribution Georgia conservation status management guidelines information on similar species and related rare species list of references