Doctoral student and Presidential Fellow This month we are featuring Maya Brooks, a third year doctoral student in the history department who is actively engaged in the university and local community. Brooks is a public historian who studies the U.S. South and the African American past. She is passionate about highlighting the voices of Black Americans in the historical imagination as evidenced by her chosen research topics. Recently, she got the opportunity to present her research at two different conferences. First, at the Georgia Association of Historians Annual Meeting she presented her paper entitled “Dare to Be Different: Maynard Jackson and the Legacy of Atlanta’s Mayorship.” Then, at the University of Memphis Graduate Association for African American History conference she presented her paper, “From Slavery to the Stars: Examining the Lives and Legacies of Harriet Jacobs and Katherine Johnson.” She also served as a tour guide for a campus tour called “What buildings are named after women at UGA?” in celebration of Women’s History Month in March 2023. She plans to focus her dissertation on the Atlanta mayor's office from the 1970s to the present.
