Instruction in the Archives

The Archives and Special Collections supports the teaching and learning mission of The New School by offering orientations, instruction, and other opportunities for engagement with archival and rare books research. All academic levels and university divisions are welcome, including language support classes, from Parsons Pre-College to graduate programs.

Archivist-led instruction is open to faculty, staff, and students. We work with faculty to tailor class visits to learning objectives, and collaborate on creating meaningful assignments that incorporate archival and special collections resources. Class visits range from single session to semester-long projects.

We are happy to host one-on-one or group workshops, in person or via Zoom, synchronous or asynchronous.

Here are examples of instruction to offer as short presentations or develop into in-depth lessons:

Archives 101

Introduce or refresh archival research skills with examples from The New School Archives and other archives. Topics include general terms and concepts, using databases to identify relevant archival materials, and how to schedule and prepare for in-person visits to an archive.

Custom Lesson Plans

Suggest a collection or topic and work with an archivist to create a class session, research projects and writing assignments that meet your class learning objectives. For example, lessons focused on specific genres and formats, such as manifestos, zines, oral histories, and posters.

New School History

Focused on specific topics, such as activism, curricular change, branding, free speech, or the history of a department, these programs are recommended for more extended exploration of the archives’ holdings.

Digital Records Management

Learning how to approach digital file management keeps work accessible and organized over the long-term and improves collaboration across projects. The Archives also consults on web and social media archiving to preserve personal or professional websites and build archive-friendly web projects.

Special Collections

Faculty and staff may arrange for classes and groups to view artists' books and other rare books and periodicals. Our staff will work with you and your students to identify and compile Special Collections resources for a class visit in the University Center Library's Philip Scaturro Room, create or collaborate on lesson plans, and prepare handouts, but we do not lead the sessions. Popular Special Collections visits include those focused on artists' books, zines, and photography as well as subject-specific research topics. Examples of past Special Collections class themes include artists' books with non-traditional bindings, fashion history through print culture, place-based poetry, and the role of zines and other self-published resources in the social sciences.

Curatorial Opportunities

The Archives has a small exhibition area, including two display cases, in our Research Room, located on the second floor of the University Center Library. The cases are available for curated exhibitions that use or engage primary sources by faculty, students, and staff, with preference given to projects that make use of research conducted in The New School Archives.

Arranging Classes and Visits

All archives-based instruction and orientation is scheduled between 10 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday, although accommodations may be made for evening classes, depending upon staff availability. We can accommodate classes of up to 18 students.

Special Collections visits of 1-2 hours may be scheduled during the University Center Library's hours of operation, beginning 30 minutes after opening and ending 30 minutes before closing. Faculty must be present for the duration of the instruction session. Please submit an Instruction Request Form and use the Alternative Appointment Date field to indicate the latest possible date when a Special Collections visit might be integrated into your syllabus. Because these visits are popular and we can only accommodate one visit per day, we recommend reserving a visit early in the semester. For the 2025-2026 academic year, no Saturday visits will be scheduled.

Contact us at archivist@newschool.edu to begin a discussion, or complete the Instruction Request Form. If emailing, please tell us your course title, academic level, enrollment, when the class meets, and whether you would prefer a synchronous or asynchronous session. One of our archivists will respond within two business days. We require a minimum of two weeks advance notice to prepare a pedagogically sound, engaging lesson tailored to your class, and to compile primary source materials for class use.

We request that faculty do not require their students to use The New School Archives and Special Collections without first discussing the assignment with our staff.

Instruction in the Archives

Arranging Classes and Visits

Instruction Request Form

Related Reading

LIBRARY, COLLECTIONS & ACADEMIC SERVICES

UNIVERSITY RESOURCES

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