Archival Studies and Community
Documentation
At Brooklyn College of
the City University of New York
An interdisciplinary
minor
Introduction
The
first of its kind within the City University of New York, this program,
sponsored by the Department of History and the Brooklyn College Library,
complements course work with diverse, supervised internship opportunities
and field experiences in a variety of New York City cultural organizations,
including museums, archives, community organizations, and educational institutions.
Intellectually, the Minor offers students the opportunity to cultivate a deeper
understanding of New York's local communities-their history, geography, culture, folklore,
religions, politics, and social structure. Practically, the Minor enables
students to apply their disciplines or majors while exploring potential careers
in various fields that draw on the study of community archives.
Aims
of the Minor
The
minor in Archival Studies and Community Documentation:
-
Provides
students with the intellectual and preprofessional foundation necessary
for full participation in an internship.
-
Places
students in supervised internships in archives, libraries, museums, local
history and historical restoration projects, and educational institutions.
-
Helps students
to explore prospective careers in professions related to archives, community history
and its documentation.
-
Offers
education majors fieldwork experience in community history that will enable
them to prepare enriched curricula for their students.
-
Promotes
the documentation, preservation, and interpretation of New York City's
local communities, drawing on the Brooklyn College Archives, the "Keeper" of
Brooklyn College's history, as a resource and repository for these activities.
-
Fosters
ongoing interchange between Brooklyn College and our neighboring communities,
their people and their institutions.
Internships
A key component of the Minor
in Archival Studies and Community Documentation is an internship program
in which students gain firsthand experience by working in local organizations.
This critical field experience provides a foundation in archival management
and community history and offer students the opportunity to make important
contacts with professional archivists, curators, educators and public historians.
Typical activities of interns include processing archival collections,
researching community history projects, assisting in the production of
Web sites or CD-ROMs, and organizing local history exhibitions and curricula.
Internships are tailored to each student's particular personal and academic research
interests. Any internship requires completion of stated coursework prerequisites, a meeting with
program administrators, and faculty approval. See the last paragraph (under "Declaration of Minor") for contact info which you will need to arrange a meeting.
Course
Requirements
Students
must complete 15 credits for the Minor, consisting of two courses in Theory
and Methodology (6 credits); one Community-focused course (3 credits);
and two Internship courses (6 credits). Two of the required courses
must be completed before students begin their internships.
Theory
and Methodology Courses (6 credits)
-Students must take History 4100, Introduction to Archival Management,
and EITHER History 3460,
The Public and the Past: Encountering History Outside the Classroom
OR History 4200, Oral History: Theory and Practice before they apply for or
pursue any internships within the program.
History 4100 Introduction to Archival Management
The
role of the archivist in historical research. Theoretical and historical
basis of archival management. Types of archives. Applications of modern
archival practices. The Brooklyn College archives will serve as the students
laboratory. Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor.
History 3460 The Public and The Past: Encountering History Outside the Classroom
Introduction to the field of public history. Films, television, living history, archives and archaeology; local and business history.
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History 4200 Oral History: Theory and Practice
Theory
of oral history interviewing and field based application. Preparing
for; conducting and transcribing oral history interviews. Reviewing
legal and ethical issues. Analyzing the relationship between history and
memory. Studying the use of life-history narratives in print, film. television,
radio, exhibitions, performance, community history projects ,and educational
institutions including school classrooms.
Prerequisite:
Permission of the instructor.
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Community
-focused Courses (3 credits)
Students
must take one Community-focused course, selected from the list below, which
must be in a department other than their major. Subject matter is
related to the general focus of the internships-the study of the local
community. |
Internship
Courses (6 credits)
Internship prerequisite:
students must have completed the mandatory Theory and Methodology courses (detailed above)
before they may apply for or pursue an internship. Any internship also requires a meeting with
program administrators and faculty approval. See the last paragraph (under "Declaration of Minor")
for contact info which you will need to arrange a meeting. |
History 5100 and 5101 Internships in Public History I and II
Nine
hours of fieldwork per week. Applied training in such areas of public history
as archival and museum exhibits, and collection classification. To be pursued
in conjunction with an institution outside the college under the supervision
of a faculty member from the History Department. Students will chronicle
their field experience.
Prerequisite: History 4100 or permission of the chairperson.
SELECTED INTERNSHIP
SITES
American
Social History Project
Brooklyn
Children's Museum
Brooklyn
Museum of Art
Brooklyn
Historical Society
Brooklyn
Public Library
City
Lore
Ellis
Island Immigration Museum
Erasmus
Hall Museum of Education
Lefferts
Homestead
Lesbian
Herstory Archives
New
York State Archives and Records Administration
Prospect
Park Alliance
Robert
F. Wagner Labor Archives
Society
for the Preservation of Weeksville and
Bedford Stuyvesant
Note: Internships tailored to individual student interests can be arranged.
All internships, including "tailored" ones, require a meeting with
program administrators, and faculty approval. See the last paragraph (under "Declaration of Minor")
for contact info which you will need to arrange a meeting.
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New Course Offering
History 4190 Conservation and Preservation of Library and Archival Materials
Instructor: Slava Polishchuk - College Conservator/Preservation Officer
This course provides a basic overview of the preservation of documents, books, photographs, and other paper-based materials, as well as digital collections. Through a hands-on experience in the College's book and paper Conservation Laboratory, students will learn to analyze the condition of paper artifacts, investigate varied treatments and re-housing options, apply different conservation methods and techniques, and understand the critical role of conservation and preservation in libraries and archives.
Beyond the primary archival functions to exercise physical and intellectual control over collections, it is essential for today's archival professionals to have a comprehensive understanding of the techniques and tools available to them to preserve the unique holdings under their management. Working in tandem with the College's Conservator in the library's recently opened conservation laboratory, students will handle, analyze and treat original materials gaining invaluable "hands – on" experience.
Objectives of Course:
- Identify the varied factors that cause paper materials to deteriorate
- Distinguish various conservation strategies and a range of conservation treatments
- Apply appropriate treatments for paper-based materials
- Apply appropriate techniques to repair and preserve bound materials and books
- Design and construct protective re-housing and enclosure cases
- Illustrate digital preservation strategies
Declaration
of Minor
The
Minor is open to students majoring in any discipline. The interdisciplinary Minor
may be of special interest to students engaged in the study of community (for
example, in the fields of Anthropology, Ethnic or American studies, Africana Studies,
Women's Studies, Puerto Rican Studies, History, Music, Political Science,
Psychology, and Sociology), to Education majors
who intend to include the study of community in their elementary
and secodary school classrooms, as well as to students in many overlapping disciplines
in which training and experience in Archival Studies and Community Documentation
might supplement their undergraduate and paraprofessional credentials.
For information about internship prerequisites, alternate or specific internship sites, and how to pursue a minor in Archival Studies and Community Documentation, contact Professor Anthony Cucchiara by telephone (718) 951-5346 or by email at tonyc@brooklyn.cuny.edu for more information. In order to be officially registered in the Minor, students needs to meet with Professor Cucchiara and must fill out a "Declaration of Minor" form which must be submitted to the Registrar's Office. Please email or call Professor Cucchiara for further details and/or to set up at meeting.
For more information please fill out a request form
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