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Registration: https://societyofamericanarchivists-316.my.webex.com/weblink/register/rd404574053b51fcbf864144b37727a66
Reading Room Futures Collaborative
10 minutes
Speakers: Miriam Intrator (Ohio University); TBD
Teaching the Past of Racial Justice by Emplaced Humanities in College Archives
15 minutes
Speaker: Shu Wan (University of Buffalo)
With the development of digital humanities and pedagogy, an increasing
number of college history instructors began to (exceedingly) rely on
remote and digital technology in the classroom. Concerned about how to
integrate racial justice into the pedagogy of humanities, this chapter
contends for the potential of the promising methodology of the emplaced
humanities in changing and bridging college students and the local
community in advocacy for the pedagogy of racial justice. The chapter
consists of two sections, which regard theoretical moderation and
empirical discussion, respectively. The first section mainly introduces
the promising methodology of emplacing humanities and its pedagogical
use in the history classroom. Then the second section turns to my
practice of teaching the forgotten history of racial “riot” in Buffalo
in 1967 in the University at Buffalo’s University Archives in early May
2023, in which I attempted to bring to students with the traumatic past
of the local community. Through the case study of how to emplace the
teaching of racial justice in the history classroom by touching local
archive, this chapter contends for bridging the pedagogy of racial
justice and emplaced humanities studies together.
Archives Field Trip! Bringing Public History to the Archives
10 minutes
Speakers: Lori Schwartz and Claire Du Laney (University of Nebraska Omaha)
What happens when archivists are asked to create and teach a public
history course? In 2023, an academic department chair at the University
of Nebraska at Omaha wanted to offer a public history course for the
first time but did not have the necessary faculty expertise. They turned
to faculty archivists Du Laney and Schwartz, both of whom had relevant
degrees and public history experience.
In this presentation, Du Laney and Schwartz will share about two class
sessions they developed in this course, flipping the traditional
one-shot archives sessions beyond basic usage and access and moving into
practice and theory. This was particularly important for Du Laney and
Schwartz as the public history literature and syllabi from other
programs included very little about archival work when compared to
museum and other public history work. Both Du Laney and Schwartz have
experience teaching archival practices to student employees and interns,
but trying to convey meaningful skills in processing and outreach in
two hours through active learning was a challenge.
These two class sessions were a mix of thrilling and baffling. As we
navigated this type of teaching, we watched students experience primary
sources in the archives, connect what they learned in class with a
hands-on activity, and struggle to grasp the full scope of the sessions
in the archives. We will discuss what went well, what can be improved as
this course evolves, and our current research about archivists teaching
public history.
Engaging MFA Theatre Students in Archival Studies and Memory Work
10 minutes
Speaker: Caelin Ross (Arizona State University)
Developing meaningful engagement and instruction opportunities with
archival collections for MFA students can prove challenging. These
include managing preconceived notions of archival materials, as well as
the opinion that research is anxiety inducing and a solitary endeavor.
This session will provide a case study for integrating archival
materials into the classroom for students engaged in dramaturgy
research. Inspired by an exercise from a theatrical practice called
devising, a method of theatre-making in which the script or performance
score that originates from collaborative work, students used anonymized
historical documents to create a performance of their choice. Examples
of student creations included performing a haiku, creating a monologue
and a playlist. In post-activity discussions, students revealed that the
more time they spent with the materials, the more questions they
developed, and the greater their curiosity and interest in the
collections. This classroom experience demonstrates that by integrating
an activity with a creative outcome, students can integrate creative
research methods into their understanding of archives, both as a site
for learning and for creative inspiration
Creativity in the Classroom: Roleplaying, Making, and More
20 minutes
Speakers: Virginia Ferris and Taylor Wolford (North Carolina State University Libraries)
In this presentation, we will share recent examples of how Special
Collections librarians have collaborated with faculty in developing
creative, interactive classroom experiences to empower students in their
engagement with primary sources. We will explore several specific
examples, including a semester-long roleplaying game in an undergraduate
level art history class where students assumed the roles of characters
during periods of historical change. We will share insights from this
project, including strategies for designing effective roleplaying
scenarios, integrating archival materials, and assessing student
learning outcomes. A second example will explore how introducing
hands-on, creative making experiences in the classroom has yielded more
engaging and inclusive instruction sessions. This approach has enabled
us to collaborate with more colleagues across departments in the
Libraries and on campus, pulling in diverse expertise and practices
around creativity, wellness, and community building. We’ll share what
we’ve learned, resources and tips, and experiments we’re hoping to test
in the future.
