Opening Up the Archives: Teaching Non-Majors About the Joys of Archival Collections and Research

In Fall 2022, Jennifer Brannock, the curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana at the University of Southern Mississippi, conceived and taught an undergraduate Honors College course about archival research and use. The course integrated Special Collections’ materials into classes with active learning as a key component to the course design. One of the initial challenges was to design a course that engaged 14 students from varying backgrounds and majors including polymer science, geography, history, library science, and anthropology. Whereas, the archives and special collections are often directed at history students, Brannock had to look at ways to incorporate resources and exercises that related to various majors and interests. A vital component of the class was to make sure the active learning exercises could be used as experiences to include on the students’ resumes. This poster will focus on course and syllabus design, creating an interdisciplinary focus, and how students engaged through active learning exercises.