Development of a Course Assignment Using the Labadie Collection

Development of a Course Assignment Using the Labadie Collection

Grant:
Instructional Development Fund (IDF)
Academic Year:
2013 - 2014 (June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014)
Funding Requested:
$500.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
saramcc
Overview of the Project:
This application seeks funding for research assistance using the Joseph A. Labadie Collection. In the course, Sex, Sexuality & Public Policy (WS/Psych 394) students are asked to design a set of advocacy materials that would educate and persuade a policy maker about a topic of interest to the student. The Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan houses a large array of excellent historical examples of these kinds of materials from the 20th century, including political pamphlets, posters, and placards. The funds from the Instructional Grant would be used to pay for research assistance to find and catalog these examples for regular use in this course. There would be several useful outcomes from this archival research: a graduate student would develop a set of instructional materials using this collection and develop expertise using archival methods. Secondly, students in the course (75 students each year) would be exposed to the Labadie Collection, as well as the importance of using archival materials to think about contemporary politics.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

The funds from this grant were used to pay for a graduate student to locate and catalog examples from the Joseph A. Labadie Collection at UM. These materials (digital photos of marches, newspaper accounts, buttons and posters, etc.) are now regularly used in my course Sex, Sexuality & Public Policy (WS/Psych 394). In addition to developing this set of materials for teaching, I plan to bring students to the Labadie Collection to teach about political advocacy related to reproductive rights and LGBTQ activism. The Labadie Collection is a terrific resource to teach students about importance of using archival materials to think about contemporary politics.

Project Achievements:

The research assistant that helped with this project learned invaluable skills associated with archival methods. The undergraduate students in this course benefit by learning about activism in the mid to late 20th century and often comment that they find inspiration in how previous generations made arguments about political change.

Continuation:
No.
Dissemination:
Dissemination occurs through teaching the course each year.
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