What can Special Collections and University Archives offer your students? Working with archival materials and rare books gives students from a range of disciplines opportunities to engage in critical thinking, analyze multiple perspectives, and synthesize information from a variety of sources.
Examples of past instruction sessions include:
- Graduate students in sociology learned about the history of the department and sources they could use to conduct qualitative research
- Students in the Women in Science and Engineering class analyzed documents from individual women scientists’ personal papers to draw conclusions about their experiences as women in STEM
- College of Design students learned intaglio printing finding sources of inspiration for their own print designs in illustrated rare books
- English students examined hand-press era books to develop skills in bibliography
SCUA has led sessions for classes in these and other program areas:
- Apparel, Merchandizing, and Design
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Biological/Pre-medical Illustration
- Event Management
- Graphic Design
- Horticulture
- Integrated Studio Arts
- Journalism and Mass Communication
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Spanish
- Speech Communication
- Women’s and Gender Studies
Interested, but still have questions? Send an email to archives@iastate.edu, and an archivist will follow up with you.
Ready to schedule? We ask for at least three weeks’ advance notice for scheduling and planning purposes. Please reach out as soon as possible. Fill out the instruction request form on our website, and we will get back with you to schedule a session and gather details.
