Department of English

This methods course/graduate internship provides training in the history, theory, methods, and practice of professional archiving and curatorial work in academic settings. Readings and presentations by specialists prepare students for hands-on work with special collections. Participants will also discuss how to apply skills from professional archival work to academic teaching and research, public-facing scholarship, as well as employment in libraries and archives, the Rare Book trade, and private collecting. Students will spend 8 weeks processing a selected Kislak collection, producing a finding aid, and writing individual Unique at Penn blog posts on items of their choice. After a training session with Kislak curators, students will spend the last 4 weeks of the semester developing a Kislak-sponsored pop-up exhibition of material drawn from the processed collection that will be open to the public on the last day of class.

Students will leave the course with demonstrable professional skills, a portfolio of work that includes two publications, and access to a network of scholars and professionals in the field.