Being a university archivist isn't, strictly speaking, being an educator. There is, however, quite a bit of overlap and opportunity. Of course, every researcher—not only students—requires a bit of facilitation and draws upon the knowledge-base and instruction of the archivist in accessing and interpreting material. But being on staff at a liberal arts college has given me other occasions, at the very least, sidle up alongside college teaching.
I have been invited to guest lecture for public history courses, have done library instruction for research methods courses, even served as unofficial T.A. for Fred Shively's Greek course. Not officially related to archival duties, I have been pulled in to design academic writing instruction for incoming grad students, and am slated to take over Turabian review for SOT theses beginning next fall.
An ongoing project I'm particularly happy with is a history assignment I've developed with two English professors for their comp students, guiding them through selecting and interpreting primary sources from the university archives to build a persuasive essay around, and then taking 3-5 course sessions to instruct students on the nature of archives and archival materials, primary vs secondary sources and how to engage each type critically.
But last fall, I had my first chance to actually develop a syllabus and teach a full course. Archival Theory and Practice, the course is named, essentially an Archives 101 course for public history majors. In many ways, it was an ideal first full teaching experience. Only two students, both seniors, both majors, both fairly diligent in reading and discussion. We met in the archives reading room during hours the archives are typically not open, meaning minimal prep time for me. When a concrete example occurred to me, I could say "be right back" and grab the item from the closed stacks or a supply closet.
And under these ideal circumstances, I developed a syllabus I'm pretty happy with, and excited to go back and re-tool somewhat for the next time the course is listed. In the coming days, I'll be reflecting on the content and writing up my thoughts here, eventually posting what I expect will be my next course design.
