Intellectual Participation
In the first third of the semester you will be introduced to a number of perspectives on alterity and archives, but the shape and direction of our discussions in the latter two thirds of the semester will be determined by you; thus, your intellectual participation is essential. Individual and group work, and smaller and larger assignments are equally important to your success in the course. I’ll evaluate your participation based on preparation and performance—what you do to prepare ahead of class and how well you perform while in class. It goes without saying that I’ll expect you to arrive on time; be professional; be prepared to discuss and to question our readings, materials, process, and findings; stay engaged in the archives; and uphold FSU’s Student Conduct Code without fail.Research Journal: Individual
In the first week of class, I will ask you to create a research journal for recording your work. This is not a diary or informal notebook. It is a place where you systematically record, analyze, and discuss how you are synthesizing the goals of the course. It should be formal and clear, and it may be some of the most important writing you do during the semester. If done well, your journal entries can provide you with concrete ideas (and even polished prose) for your archival research project. They will also help me to know how you are navigating the project, the readings, and the course. Your research journal should have three sections:- a “log” section in which you keep an overarching record of what you do in class and in the archives, and of what we read, realize, and discuss. Please log the titles of outside sources, page numbers, archival call numbers, etc., when they factor into your log. Think of your log as a focused method for taking important notes (not so much a dumping ground for all your notes), and please date each entry. You should plan to do this at least twice a week.
- a “response” section for responses to the occasional prompts that I will give throughout the semester, which will be posted on this course blog.
- an “analysis” section in which you make deliberate and critical connections between our readings and your other research/archiving activities (in and outside this class), ask questions, and discuss future goals for the next journal. You should plan to do this at least once a month—certainly before each journal collection date.
All sections should be word-processed rather than hand-written. Although I will ask you to bring this journal to class each week so that you can use it during our discussions, I will collect and evaluate it three (3) times over the semester. Each time I will look for evidence that you have taken risks with the course material, demonstrated some understanding of the process of archiving, and genuinely engaged with the concepts of the course. At times, you will likely “speak through” some of the theorists and writers we read, so please use MLA in-text citations where needed and include a works cited list where relevant. Also, consider how titles, headers, and subheaders can help you to creatively organize your Journal.
Problem-Solving Reports: Collaborative
Three (3) times over the semester I will ask you to work with a partner on problem-solving exercises that are intended to help you identify, use, and apply various archival tools—print and electronic. After you solve your problem, I will ask you to collaboratively compose a report, in which you demonstrate a critical understanding of what you have solved. Each report should contain the following sections:- a response or solution to the actual problem;
- a process summary of how you completed the activity, including the successes and challenges you faced as a team. For example, did you discover several routes of investigation, and were some more productive or efficient than others? How did you or your partner handle dead ends? How could the research process have been made easier for you? What did you learn about the archive in the process?
- an analysis of how the problem-solving exercise illuminates, complicates, or extends our course readings and discussions so far. This part of the report should be highly intertextual, so please use MLA in-text citations where needed and include a works cited list. What other concepts from our readings are clearer – or more complicated – as a result of this problem-solving exercise? What other research questions were generated for your team as you worked?
All sections should show careful thought and consideration and reflect a true collaboration. In each report, I will look for evidence that you have taken ownership of the activity, reflected on the process, and genuinely engaged with the theories and concepts of the course. I will expect you to attend to language and organization, to use sources accurately and responsibly, and to cite the sources you use.
Archival Research Project
Over the semester we will all be working in some capacity on the Pruitt-King papers, which will serve as the basis for your archival research project. As a whole, your archival research project should demonstrate some commitment to the FSU Special Collections, but it should also demonstrate your own critical understanding of where archival work converges with or diverges from your other interests, as well as what questions or problems get raised. We will scaffold this project throughout the semester in four parts:- Archival Component and Presentation: The archival component will consist of some task we complete to help process the Pruitt-King papers, and it will be determined during Week 6 in conversation with Katie McCormick, our supervising archivist. It will culminate in a presentation to be given during Week 16, in which you demonstrate what you consider to be significant connections between the processing work you have done on behalf of FSU Special Collections and your own individual research for the course. Katie McCormick, our supervising archivist, will help evaluate the usefulness and effectiveness of this archival component that we create together.
- Project Proposal: In Week 7, you will submit a project proposal (~4 pages, double-spaced, with MLA works cited) that discusses your archival task(s) for FSU Special Collections, and describes the related critical question that you plan to take up in an individual senior-level research essay, framing that discussion in some of the archival documents you have handled and in several theoretical readings from our course that have inspired it. Your options for the research essay are vast(!), and it may involve more than one research methodology, e.g., a close reading, a rhetorical analysis, a theoretical discussion, an historical examination, etc. I will ask you to sign up for a one-on-one conference with me to discuss your ideas for this proposal. It is never too early or too late to discuss it.
- Question-in-Progress: In Week 13, I’ll look for a brief (~5 pages, double-spaced, with MLA works cited) progress report of your archival research project so far, in which you describe its status (i.e., what processing work remains to be done by you this semester or by other archivists in the future), analyze its potential usefulness once finished, and discuss your critical research question as it currently stands. You should plan to make critical connections between your activities, our theoretical readings, and the methods we have been practicing as a class. You should also plan to discuss what you have learned about the Pruitt-King papers, and what your sources are telling you so far.
- Research Component: The research component will consist of your well-investigated, senior-level critical research essay generated from the original question you proposed based on your work with primary texts (~12 pages, double-spaced, with MLA works cited), but you might also find ways to integrate visual artifacts if you decide that they are a necessary part of your investigation, or if their analysis will enhance your project. The research component will be due during finals week.
