SCUA staff teach class sessions across many campus departments and programs, incorporating primary sources from our collections. These sessions give students the opportunity to learn from “hands-on” experiences with archival materials. Some of the notable classes and instructional opportunities this quarter include:

Art 344: Imaging I

Undergraduate students in Kelley O’Brien’s ART 344 Imaging I class recently visited SCUA for a class session about zines. Half the class met with Carolyn Shankle to learn about the history of zines and view a selection of zines from SCUA’s collections. The other half met with Suzanne Helms to learn five simple book structures that could be used to create zines. Then, students switched to experience the history of zines or zine making respectively.

ART 387: Alternative Photographic Process

Sean Mulligan and Kathelene McCarty Smith taught ART 387, which entailed a presentation on the history of photography and how to work with archival material. The class were able to interact with the department’s large historical camera collection, as well as a variety of early photographic formats, including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes.

HIS 430: Historical Methods for Social Studies

With a special focus on the Commercial Class, the students of HIS 430 visited the archives for a presentation on the history of the Commerical Class and work with a variety of related primary sources. The Business Department was among the earliest departments established at the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) and was a strong track of study until 1967. The History students are incorporating the material in a class research project.

DCE 101: Introduction to Dance

The Introduction to Dance class visited Special Collections to learn more about primary source research and using an archive. During their visit, they worked with previous UNCG dance professors’ materials, past students’ dance theses, photographs, and yearbooks.

Theatre 101: Theatre First Year Foundations

Patrick and Kathelene hosted an instruction section for Theatre 101 in November 2024, spreading the large class over two visits to the archives. For each section of the class’s visit, students viewed a presentation introducing them to archives and archival research, as well as analyzing playbills from past Broadway productions.