Teaching With the Real Thing: Using Archives and Special Collections in Your Courses In-Person
A hands-on and minds-on workshop sponsored by the Oberlin College Libraries, the Lemle Center for Teaching & Scholarship, and the Book Studies Program.
The workshop offers a series of very brief "master classes" in which several faculty/curatorial teams share how they work with a single object or two to activate Oberlin’s distinctive collections for students. Their presentation (5-7 minutes) will illustrate how distinctive collections can inspire critical thinking, original research, and deeper learning. From appreciation of the physical to digital scholarship possibilities, it will be a day of discovery.
The half-day symposium will take place in Special Collections & Archives (Terrell Main Library, 4th Floor) on Thursday, September 18th from 8:45AM-1PM, with lunch provided (Please RSVP). Optional tours from 1-3.
- Date:
- Thursday, September 18, 2025
- Time:
- 8:45am - 1:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Archives and Terrell Special Collections (4th floor Mudd Center)
SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY:
8:45-9:15: Coffee and Opening Remarks
Goodrich Reading Room, Terrell Library, 4th Floor, Special Collections & Archives
- Valerie Hotchkiss, Azariah Smith Root Director of Libraries and Professor of English and Book Studies and
- Wendy Hyman, Donald R. Longman Professor of English and Comparative Literature & Chair of Book Studies
9:15-10:45: Mini Master Classes with Faculty and Curators
Goodrich Reading Room, Terrell Library, 4th Floor, Special Collections & Archives
- Erik Inglis, Art History and Ed Vermue, Terrell Special Collections
- Carmen Merport Quiñones, Comparative American Studies and Emily Rebman, Oberlin Archives
- Rian Brown Orso, Cinema and Media Studies and Heath Patten, OCL Digital Collaborative
- Amanda Hodes, Creative Writing and Eugénie Fortier, Art Library
- Jennifer Fraser, Ethnomusicology and Anthropology and Emerson Morgan, Conservatory Special Collections
- Caroline Newhall, History and Ken Grossi, Oberlin Archives
10:45-11:30: Master class items and other treasures on display
Forsythe Classroom, Terrell Library, 4th Floor, Special Collections & Archives
- Informal browsing & networking session
- Q&A with presenters.
11:45-1:00: Lunch in the Library
Terrell Library Learning Lab, 113
- Time for breakout chats for further pedagogical brainstorming
1:00-3:00: Choose your own adventure tours (open houses at):
- Oberlin College Libraries Digital Collaborative
- Letterpress @ Oberlin Studio
- Art Library, and Conservatory Library Special Collections
Azariah S. Root Director of Libraries & Professor of English and Book Studies