UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Colleen Shogan sees her work as director of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as essential to American democracy. Since assuming the role of archivist of the United States in May 2023, she’s made it a priority to digitize millions of the country’s records and make them available online so anyone can access them.
Shogan will discuss her work and the role that archives play in democracy during a conversation with Lisa Flores, Josephine Berry Weiss Chair of the Humanities and professor of communication arts and sciences, at 4 p.m. Oct. 23 in Robb Hall of the Hintz Family Alumni Center on Penn State's University Park campus. Please note that this is a location change from Foster Auditorium in Paterno Library.
A native of the Pittsburgh area, Shogan holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Boston College and a doctorate in American politics from Yale University, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. She taught at Georgetown and George Mason University.
“It’s a privilege to visit universities like Penn State, where I can meet with future leaders and speak about the importance of our work to preserve the nation’s history at the National Archives,” Shogan said. “I spent years in academia as both a student and professor, so I enjoy revisiting the excitement of learning when traveling to campuses across the country. I’m especially happy to be back in my home state of Pennsylvania for this trip.”
NARA is home to 13.5 billion paper records, millions of photographs and enough film to circle the globe three and half times. Shogan is the first woman appointed to head the organization. Under her leadership, NARA has launched initiatives to enhance services and make its holdings more accessible, both in-person and online, with the goal of cultivating public participation and strengthening American democracy.
Shogan and her team were recently featured on “60 Minutes” in a segment about the work to preserve and digitize all those records, which are spread out between Washington, D.C., and several satellite locations across the country.
“We will rely upon our institutions, upon Congress, and of course upon the executive branch to support us along the way,” Shogan told Norah O’Donnell of CBS News in the segment .
Shogan’s visit is sponsored by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy in the College of the Liberal Arts. For more information, visit democracy.psu.edu/events.