Faculty First Year Seminars 191FYS13 - Black Feminist Archival Method

This course introduces students to Black Feminist Archival Literacy (BFAL) - an approach to archival research and knowledge creation grounded in Black feminist thought, community memory, and collective knowledge production. Students will explore how archives shape historical narratives, whose stories are preserved, and whose voices have been marginalized or excluded. Through readings, discussions, and hands-on engagement with archival materials, students will learn how to analyze, interpret, and question historical records while considering the social, cultural, and political forces that shape them. Drawing on the traditions of Black feminist scholarship, the course emphasizes critical inquiry, lived experience, community memory, and collective brilliance as essential tools for understanding the past and imagining more equitable futures.

First-year (R1ST)