O'Connor Institute

Georgia College & State University will welcome Dr. Katie Rhine as its new Director of the Flannery O’Connor Institute for the Humanities Oct. 1, 2026. A higher education veteran, Rhine most recently served as director of Arts and Humanities in Healthcare at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she integrated the humanities into medical and STEM disciplines through exhibitions, innovative programming and leadership that focused on maternal pelvic health and postpartum...

Come discuss the new book "Flannery and Regina: The Andalusia Chronicles" with author Carol Loeb Shloss (UGA Press, 2026). We will focus on the first half, but come if you've finished the whole thing or even if you haven't read it at all. Shloss has unearthed new archival material that significantly expands our understanding of Flannery O'Connor's relationship with her mother Regina, and will be delighted to answer questions and discuss her research and writing. This virtual event...

This talk will focus on the process of using the archives to write fiction. James Simmons will discuss how he used primary and secondary sources to write his recently-published speculative historical fiction novel - A Ghost Among Magnolias (Lanternfish Press, 2026). Together we will look at the newspaper articles, family lore, personal history and historical texts which inspired this story about his ancestors, some of whom were from Milledgeville. We will also investigate the question:...

We are launching our first meeting this fall with a discussion of Flannery O'Connor's story "Greenleaf" on Aug. 27, hosted by Professor Emeritus Bruce Gentry. Our 2 p.m. meeting, live and in person, will be held at the Georgia Writers Museum on the square in downtown Eatonton, Georgia. Come early to purchase coffee and a pastry before the coffee shop closes. Our 7 p.m. meeting will be conducted online. Email oconnorinstitute@gcsu.edu for the link. 

Members of the university community are invited to attend a candidate presentation and open forum for the position of Director of the Flannery O'Connor Institute for the Humanities. The event will be held in the Mayfair Hall Presentation Room on Tuesday, Aug. 11, from 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.The candidate will deliver a presentation addressing the following topic:The Flannery O'Connor Institute for the Humanities sits at the intersection of scholarship, education, public engagement, fundraising...