Special Collections Resources for Instructors

Archives and Special Collections welcomes opportunities to facilitate class projects, large or small. We have worked with instructors on projects ranging from a single class session to sequential multicourse projects spanning multiple class sections across several semesters. We have materials to support a broad range of topics in history, literature, gender studies, women's leadership, and other topics, and can also use our materials to teach skills such as visual literacy and critical thinking that appeal to many disciplines.

In the past, we have worked with instructors and students on projects that:

• used photographs to think about nontextual sources as evidence
• developed factual questions for students to find answers to in the archives
• constructed an exhibit using archival records in Special Collections exhibit cases
• used archival images to recreate front campus in gingerbread
• reconstructed the history of the university's desegregation

Classes undertaking projects of these sorts have booked numerous sessions in the archives for the students to work individually, in groups, or as the whole class section together. Students will also be able to book individual appointments outside of class to complete their research as needed.

Additional project ideas are always welcome; we're always looking for new ways to make our resources useful for students. Contact the archives if you are interested in implementing an archival project in your upcoming class by emailing archives@muw.edu.