Murray State University College of Humanities and Fine Arts is pleased to announce the next installment in the Humanities+ Series, “Life Lab: Hometowns & Histories,” on Tuesday, November 3 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. in the Breathitt Room of Pogue Library, located at the corner of 15th Street and Olive Boulevard in Murray, Kentucky. The event is free and open to the campus community and the public.

The Humanities+ series was created to showcase how we can flourish in the world today. Through lectures, workshops, and cultural events, the series serves to foster creative, intellectual, and educational opportunities. These events are meant to cultivate skills we need to learn and live. Life Lab events are a series of technology-free experiences offered throughout the school year to help people (dis)connect, reflect, and build resilience.

Pogue Special Collections Library is a place to interact with unique research materials—such as the papers and works of Kentucky author Jesse Stuart and historian and biographer Forrest Pogue—and for quiet study. Inside is the Wells T. Lovett Grand Reading Room, which has been voted one of the best places to study on campus. Pogue also serves as a public research center on local history and genealogy, which participants in “Hometowns & Histories” will have access to for the event. Library staff will also be on hand to answer questions and help participants follow their curiosities.

Dr. Jeff McLaughlin, Professor and Director of Archives and Special Collections at Murray State University, will lead the session, which he states is focused on encouraging students, faculty, and the public to engage with archival material and see how fascinating research can be.

“There are some great stories that just won't get told unless we start digging in local archives and put all of the puzzle pieces together ourselves.”

For more information on the Humanities+ events, contact Dr. Josh Adair, Professor of English and Humanities+ Director, at jadair1@murraystate.edu. For more information about the Hometowns & Histories event or Pogue Library, contact Dr. Jeff McLaughlin at smclaughlin1@murraystate.edu or by phone at (270) 809-4295.