Current Projects

Students and Faculty in the Archives: History Museums, Colleges and Critical Thinking

Partners

Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus; New York City College of Technology; and St. Francis College

Project Description

Students and Faculty in the Archives (SAFA) is a three-year, US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant that will create a replicable pedagogical model for collaboration between museums like Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and institutions of higher learning.

Over five semesters, BHS will work with eighteen partner faculty from three neighboring schools.  These instructors will integrate BHS’s rich archival collections into first-year undergraduate courses in a wide range of departments including English, History, Architectural Technology, and Photography.  Archival material will be utilized in assignments, projects, and class visits; each course will also produce a web site chronicling students’ learning experiences.  Students selected for SAFA’s summer internships will also have the opportunity to curate a physical exhibit.

By introducing students to archival research, SAFA aims to develop students’ research and critical thinking skills, leading them to greater academic and professional success. The project will track and evaluate our ability to build a collaborative network, faculty development in designing courses which utilize archival research, student learning of key inquiry and archival literacy skills, and student engagement and retention.

In the final year of the grant, partner colleges and cultural repositories from other states will model similar collaborations after our work in Brooklyn.  In this way, SAFA will introduce a nationwide cohort of students to archival research and exhibition development.

Funder

Fund for the Improvement of Secondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education

Project staff

Public Historian, Julie Golia

Outreach & Public Services Archivist, Robin M. Katz

Project Contact

Outreach & Public Services Archivist, Robin M. Katz

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