Course Description
Advanced practice in the use of archives. Students will handle and interpret unique and rare objects in special collections. The course will culminate in the design of an exhibit, educational program, or project of cultural significance for a public audience. Course is given in Spanish.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be responsible for a more extensive syllabus and for more ambitious and sophisticated research, analysis, and writing that may include editorial practices.
Athena Title
Creativity in the Archives
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ROML 4092 or ROML 6092
Non-Traditional Format
This course provides extended experience with archives and a library or museum.
Undergraduate Prerequisite
SPAN 3030 or SPAN 3030H or SPAN 3030E
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will gain experience in planning, developing, and presenting a small exhibition based on archival research. This includes skills in curating, organizing, and presenting archival materials in a public or academic context.
- Students will interact with librarians and curators in archives and collections to gain an understanding of archival theory.
- Students will develop practical skills for conducting archival research, including understanding archival materials, navigating archival collections, and analyzing documents.
- Students will understand the ethical, political, and social implications of archival practices, especially in relation to power dynamics and memory creation, particularly in the context of Latin America.
- Students will learn the basics of archival cataloging systems, classification schemes, and the organizational structures that govern archives.
- Students will develop teamwork and communication skills through collaborative work on a final group project and presentation, including public speaking and discussion facilitation.
Topical Outline
- This course emphasizes techniques for finding and interpreting unique or rare primary sources that originated in Hispanophone cultural contexts. A key component is its focus on objects in the Spanish language held in archives and collections, culminating in the design of a project for the public in Spanish, or Spanish and English. Introductory foundations will include the study of archival research methods, applying theoretical frameworks in the interpretation of cultural artifacts, and discussion of the public missions of archives and special collections. The choice and sequence of topics will vary by instructor, semester, and materials’ availability. A course focused on print and manuscript literary artifacts may bring students to work in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library and begin with paleography and transcription. In other cases, a course may concentrate on materials in media archives, such as sound recordings or visual documents, or on a specific collection of artifacts that requires Spanish language expertise. In each case, however, students will not only become proficient in archival research, but they will also apply interpretive frameworks relevant to professional applications that give the public access to, and understanding of, unusual primary source objects.
