UCSC and the Grateful Dead both arose in California in the exciting cultural landscape of the mid 1960s. UCSC has become a world class research university with a strong commitment to student-centered learning and public service. Sited in an environment of incomparable natural beauty, the campus offers an array of undergraduate programs, and now students pursue advanced degrees in more than thirty fields.
 

For many years the Music Department has offered the extremely well attended course “Music of the Grateful Dead,” a contextual study of the sociology and history from 1960s on, taught by Professor Fred Lieberman. Lieberman is co-author with Mickey Hart of Planet Drum, Drumming At the Edge of Magic, and Spirit Into Sound. Members of the band are frequent lecturers in this popular course.
 

The University’s Ph.D. program in Music emphasizes cross cultural and interdisciplinary studies, and with the Grateful Dead Archive UCSC more firmly positions itself as a destination site for the study of American vernacular music and popular culture.
 

UCSC has long hosted the frequently visited “Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics” website, and our popular campus mascot the Banana Slug (Ariolimax Dolichophallus) has just taken on new attire and become truly Grateful.
 
 

Special Collections offers the general public, visiting scholars, and the academic community access to the University Library’s most unique holdings. Its collection of rare books and manuscripts, historical documents, cultural artifacts and fine art and photography celebrate and promote ingenuity, scholarship, and creativity.
 

Among its noteworthy collections and archives are the papers of science fiction author Robert Heinlein, the painted poems and prose of Beat writer and peace activist Kenneth Patchen, and the music manuscripts, recordings and other artifacts of maverick American composer Lou Harrison.
 

Collections are further described in the Library’s local catalog Cruzcat, in many electronic finding aids, and in Special Collections’ website.