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Classes and Sessions

Collaborate with archivists to design a hands-on experience that builds research skills and supports your course goals.

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bhl-reading-room-students-working-02

Teaching

The Bentley Historical Library welcomes classes and groups who want to learn more about archives and how to use them.

Archivists work with you to design hands-on sessions that teach critical thinking, historical empathy, and more.

Together, we can:

  • Develop active learning sessions using the Bentley’s collections.
  • Design a custom experience using curated selections of material to deepen participants’ understandings of a subject, period, or document format.
  • Highlight archival search strategies and research methods.
  • Arrange a session in your classroom (without original documents) on navigating the archives or on topics related to our collections, such as University of Michigan history.

To arrange a session:

Contact Sarah McLusky, Archivist for Instruction, at smclusky@umich.edu. We ask that you contact us a month in advance, if possible.

Examples of Classes

The Vulcans

The Vulcans, an Engineering student society founded in 1904, use their own records to explore topics such as the group’s early social activities, the shift to include women, and more. Often, participants discuss the traditions that might be carried into the future.

History 208:

Sports in World History

Explore social, political, and economic connections to U-M athletics history. Discussion sections visit the Bentley for multiple research visits to work hands-on with archival material, investigating topics from sports marketing to Title IX. Students then translate their research into podcast scripts in small groups.

Under the Campus:

The Land

Architecture students explore the history of various University-owned locations, using maps, plat drawings, photographs, and meeting minutes. As they examine the University’s relationship with Native Americans over 200 years, they develop a better understanding of archival silences and the need for contextual information when interpreting the past.