Cultural Heritage, Social Change: The Activist Archivist

Catalog description

Activist Archivst, noun. Meaning 1: An archivist who strives to document the underdocumented aspects of society and to support political and social causes through that work. Meaning 2: An archivist who seeks to move the archives profession, archives workplaces, and society in general toward social justice Howard Zinn coined the term “activist archivist” in his seminal 1970 address to the Society of American Archivists, in which he challenged cultural heritage professionals to disrupt the status quo and confront social injustices through their work. This class introduces students to the fundamentals of archives and cultural heritage information management, with special attention to the role record-keeping plays in both reifying and dismantling systems of power and how activism can take the form of memory work. Students will develop knowledge of major theories and practices of cultural heritage information management by interacting with primary source materials during visits to the various and eclectic archives of Tulane University and New Orleans. They will apply a critical, investigative lens with consideration for how collective and individual memory is produced and preserved, and whose stories get told. Students will also engage with alternative, activist forms of memory-keeping, including zines, oral histories, craftwork, tarot and oracle decks, and other art forms, through class visits with local memory workers and field trips to explore New Orleans memory work that blurs the lines of art/archives/activism. The class will culminate with a group project: the creation of a zine, a scrapbook, or a documentary product of your group’s own design, as a tangible record of your semester experience. This class is ideal for students interested in anthropology, history, studio art, or those considering future work in Public History or the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) sector.