The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) has a strong commitment to student outreach, teaching numerous instructional sessions per semester. These sessions often include a PowerPoint presentation and a display of material from SCUA’s collections. Archivists also conduct hands-on primary source analysis exercises to encourage students’ understanding of how to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, identify basic information about the item, recognize the significance of perspective and bias, and contextualize resources for research and writing.
The following are some of the many creative sessions developed by the SCUA archivists this fall:
THR 434: Camera Acting, Basic Techniques
After surveying several sites in Jackson Library, Assistant Professor of Acting for the Camera David Furr chose the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collection (SCUA) as a filming site for his THR 434: Camera Acting and THR 436: Advanced Acting for the Camera classes. The students spent several class sessions filming in the department. SCUA staff enjoyed the opportunity to see the filming process and work with these fun, enthusiastic students.
DCE 102 First Year Foundations
The students in Dance: First Year Foundations (DCE 102) heard a presentation on the history of dance at UNC Greensboro, then had the chance to examine archival materials, including photographs from the Dance Department, personal papers of Dance instructors, and theses from past Dance majors.
THR 145: Costume Stagecraft
This class was taught by Kathelene Smith and Patrick Dollar, who focused on UNC Greensboro’s history by tracing the evolution of campus fashion. This entailed creating an extensive textile exhibit in the Hodges Reading Room, illustrating the change in fashion over a hundred-year period, from the school’s opening in 1892 until the 1970s. Included in the session was a presentation on student fashion over the years, as well as information on how to access SCUA’s online resources. Additionally, there was a hands-on activity in which students examined photographs and yearbooks by decade, for a related class project.
CST 200-02: Communications and Community
Students in CST 200 had the opportunity to examine the history of UNC Greensboro through the lens of campus communities. Staff spoke to the class about the various communities that have existed at UNC Greensboro since the school opened its doors in 1892, such as faculty clubs and student organizations. Students then had the opportunity to look through yearbooks and photographs to identify specific campus groups and see how they have changed through the decades.
ELC 281: Cultural Foundations in Education
Students from the Cultural Foundations in Education class visited the archives for a class session and exploration activity. Kathelene McCarty Smith and Carolyn Shankle created thirteen tables of archival material from a variety of collections in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA). The students rotated through the “stations,” examining the items to find inspiration for an educational curiosity research project they will work on throughout the semester.
HIS 211: US History to 1877
Students from HIS 211 visited Special Collections and University Archives to view material held in the collection dating before 1877. This included rare books, 18th-century land deeds, historical maps, and other material from the period.
Zines! Zines! Zines!
Suzanne Helms and Carolyn Shankle held several zine presentations and demonstration classes this semester. They included ARH 359 Art and/as Social Justice for Elizabeth Perrill, ART 140 New Media and Design 1 for Topher Alexander, WGS 250-01 and WGS 250-02 for Sope Kahn, and ART 140-02 New Media and Design 1 for Nill Smith.
This zine was created and donated to SCUA’s Zine Collection by Topher Alexander, Department of Art faculty member and artist, using the same one-sheet zine structure that students in Zine workshops learned this semester. Alexander intentionally blurred the imagery and printed the text off-register to emphasize the ephemeral nature of his memories of a trip he took several years ago.