It’s time to mark your calendars for GRIP 2026!
The GRIP Genealogy Institute provides extensive week-long instruction on various genealogical topics. There are two GRIP programs, virtual and in-person options, which offer focused instruction in courses with eighteen class sessions taught by experts. This in-depth format offers students an immersive, high-level education designed to advance their research skills. Students can choose a course topic focusing on methodology, genealogical records, geographic regions, or ethnic groups.
GRIP will be held virtually and in-person in 2026. Virtual students will take part in courses offered over the Zoom platform June 22-26, 2026. In-person courses will be held at the University of Pittsburgh, July 12-17, 2026.
Courses offered in 2026 include:
GRIP Virtual
- Advanced DNA. Course Coordinator: Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD
- Practical AI for Genealogists: Foundations and First Steps. Course Coordinator: J. Stephen Little, Jr.
- Navigating Independence: Researching the Lives of Revolutionary War Ancestors. Course Coordinator: Cheri Daniels, MSLS
- Not “Just” Farmers: Records, Relationships, and the Reality of Their Lives. Course Coordinator: Cari Taplin, CG
- Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills. Course Coordinator: Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA
- Women and Children First!: Research Methods for the Hidden Half of the Family. Course Coordinator: Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL, FUGA
- Marching Toward Change: Reformers, Crises, and Movements That Transformed 19th and 20th Century America. Course Coordinator: Katherine R. Willson
- The Intentional Genealogist: From Chaos to Clarity. Course Coordinator: Kelli Bergheimer
- Land, Faith and Family: Navigating Early Ontario and Quebec Research. Course Coordinator: Kathryn Lake Hogan, BA, PLCGS, UE
Courses offered in-person at the University of Pittsburgh are:
- Genetic Networks: Start at the Beginning. Course Coordinator: Kelli Bergheimer
- Interdisciplinary Civil War Research: The Road to Disunion and Reconstruction, 1820–1877. Course Coordinator: Michael Strauss, MA, AG
- Records Loss: Overcoming Destroyed, Missing, or Non-Extant Records. Course Coordinator: Kelvin Meyers
- Surrogates and Substitutes – The 1890 US Census Exemplar. Course Coordinator: Cecelia McFadden, MISM, M.Ed.
- Researching Penn’s Colony. Course Coordinator: Sandra Rumble
- Skill-Building Practicum for Genealogical Research Success. Course Coordinator: Sunny Jane Morton
- Advanced AI Techniques for Genealogists: Expanding Your Research Skills. Course Coordinator: Mark Thompson
- Metes & Bounds: Land Platting. Course Coordinator: Gerald “Jerry” Smith
New for 2026 will be two virtual Fall courses (dates to be announced):
- Genealogical Organization Excellence: A Course for Group Leadership. Course Coordinator: Matt Weismantel, MA
- Genealogy Services for Librarians: Tools, Techniques, And Trends. Course Coordinator: Kori Robbins, AG
These two courses are geared toward Society and Library management – you do not have to be on a board or a librarian to attend!
Registration for courses will open February 3, 2026 on the GRIP website.
