Archiving New York Political Events

In this scaffolded assignment, students propose a topic related to New York City politics, visit an archive, and identify a few primary source documents that might help them formulate an argument about how historical events are framed in archival materials. In a report, students write about their experience engaging in archival research, finding materials, and reflecting on the challenges and benefits of this analytical work.

In this example: students visit the Brooklyn College Library Archives for a special class session in which they could ask the archivist any questions that they had about archival research. Students would brainstorm topics of interest prior to the archival visit.A subsequent class session would discuss the complications of documenting political events in archives and interpreting materials.

Disciplines: Political Science; History; Gender Studies; Black, Race and Ethnic Studies; Sociology; Anthropology

Courses: Introductory Courses, Survey Courses, Specialized Courses

Author: Helena Najm, Political Science, CUNY Graduate Center


Assignment