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Claire Dunker Receives College Research and Creative Activity Award

College Research and Creative Activity (RCA) Awards are presented to tenured, graduate faculty whose primary home department is in the affiliated college.

  • published: 2026/10/16
Two women looking straight ahead at a camera and smiling. The woman on the left is tall with brown hair and wearing a blazer. The woman on the right has long brown hair and is wearing a black top.

Sara Meyers, Ph.D. Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity and Associate Professor Claire Dunker, Outreach Archivist.

Claire Dunker, Associate Professor and the Outreach Archivist in the Criss Library Archives and Special Collections, was awarded the College Research and Creative Activity (RCA) award for 2026. Dunker was selected for this honor based on her work associated with the "Pride and Joy: Nebraska History" project which is currently on view on the first floor of Criss Library.

For this project, Dunker secured a grant to support the development and curation of a traveling exhibition that showcases archival collections from Archives and Special Collection's Queer Omaha Archives across Omaha and Nebraska host sites and encourages research and preservation of Nebraska's LGBTQ+ history. The grant also supported a student worker's engagement in the project. The student assisted with the research, fabrication of the exhibit's banners, and marketing and outreach efforts. Dunker is also involved in two other grant-funded projects and she recently published a book chapter. Her work aligns with campus priorities to support undergraduate research experiences and meaningful community engagement opportunities.

About Criss Library

The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library fulfills the UNO mission through dynamic services, highly qualified and adaptive personnel, unique and extensive collections, and accessible learning spaces and environments. With its location on UNO’s Dodge Campus, Criss Library provides UNO students, faculty and staff, and the Omaha community with the resources and materials needed to excel academically and professionally.