Interpreting History: Students Explore the Archives
Background
The idea for this digital exhibition came from Dr. Shannon Duffy's HIST 5361: Historiography & Historical Methods course in Spring 2020. As described in the syllabus, this class was designed to help students transition from a passive role as an undergraduate history major to an active academic historian.
One of the assignments was for students to work with archival materials to gain hands-on experience conducting research in an archives, using archival materials, and consulting with archivists and librarians. Students were assigned to work with one primary document or artifact, provide background information about the item, put the item in historical context, and present the information to the public as a way to highlight archival materials available in the University Archives at Texas State University.
Spring 2020
Archivist Laura Kennedy reviewed a variety of historical materials and selected seven collections with suitable materials from which students could choose. Laura, along with reference and outreach librarian, Margaret Vaverek, were prepared to meet with students during class time immediately following Spring Break. One student was not able to meet that week, so he made an appointment to review the materials before Spring Break ... and thus was the only student who was able to physically walk into the archives to select materials in person.
During the transition to online due to COVID-19, Laura and Margaret met with the students in April via Zoom, and the assignment continued with students using digital versions of the documents. With their permission, we have posted their work in this exhibition.