Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

When students engage with local primary source materials in the classroom, they have the ability to look at their community and its role within the context of larger historical movements and moments of national significance. This experience has the potential to provide value-added learning to a classroom environment; it offers not just a multiplicity of historical perspectives but also fosters personal connection with what might be an otherwise detached historical topic. Pedagogically, analyzing and interpreting primary sources at any grade level hones critical thinking skills, as students can ask their own questions, draw conclusions based on evidence, and construct meaning, in a way that facilitates independent learning. This panel will bring together three presenters in a discussion about pairing archival collections and research with digital tools to teach: (1) primary source literacy skills, (2) critical digital competencies, (3) and the local histories of a diverse Florida. Panelists will discuss working with different groups of students, both as content creators and content consumers, when assembling collections of primary source materials online, as well as how digital humanities tools, methods, and teaching contribute to these aims. In addition, panelists will address the opportunities and challenges of leading grants, working with students at various levels/abilities, and collaborating with faculty and community partners to develop and execute DH projects.

Molly Castro, Digital Humanities Librarian, Florida International University, Rachel Walton, Digital Archivist, Rollins College, & Christopher Davis, Professor, Florida International University.

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