Snapshot impressions #10 – fifth class of the Winter 2013 term

Last class of the term for me did not go even a little bit according to plan. And, it was a good plan!

This was a small group of students, so the session could be focused on their assignment needs. They wanted a tour and time to ask questions (check). The prof wanted time to discuss sources at other archives (check). I wanted the students to have time to look at sources relevant to their assignment (check). We had over two hours to do all of that, so this is what I had planned…

Everyone in the class had been to the Archives and Special Collections for a session. This was a chance to take them behind the scenes and show them the closed stacks, answering their questions about the collections and preservation issues. Then, we would reconvene and discuss sources that would help the students with their research papers. While the prof was lecturing on sources at other archives in the country, I would pull material from the Archives. When the prof finished his lecture, the students would have time to review the pulled material. After they had seen the material, we would all have an open discussion about sources and evidence.

In reality, the tour took almost half of the class time instead of 20 minutes (or so). It was done in a completely relaxed manner and the students asked many questions while expressing a deep interest in the collections. They didn’t really want to take the class as time to work on their assignment, they wanted to learn more about behind the scenes. Although I had planned the session with the professor in advance, I had completely misunderstood the expectations of the students.

What did they miss? I had planned a 20-30 minute segment for open discussion about questioning sources. The purpose was to encourage students to think about the kind of questions they are asking and, therefore, the kind of answers they are getting (e.g., presence of bias, skewing your research, etc.). The discussion was going to open with the professor talk about how studying the past has changed dramatically over the recent 100 years and how it will change in the next 100 years. Then we all would have discussed the following:

1.  What is your perspective on how history is being told today?
2. Where do you fit in the process of historical research?
3. If you write about history, are you creating history? What role do you have in creating history?
4. What history do you want to tell? How does that influence your research?

No matter. This was a great class to end the sessions offered during the term. As for the questions, I will find a way to recycle them into another session next year – guaranteed.