Elective Coursework - Sample 2
Course: IS 431: Records, Archives, and Memories
Justification:
In the fall of 2018 I took the Records, Archives, and Memories class with Professor Anne Gilliland. From the syllabus, the term paper for this class provided me three options to choose from, the one that I ended up choosing is as follows:
Identify a contested event or a contested memory site or monument or episode of "difficult history". Discuss the major arguments and evidence that have been put forward on each side. Then discuss, with reference to archival literature on professional ethics and activism, how you would suggest an archivist responsible for documenting a contested event/period, memory site or monument might approach this work.I wrote about the Stonewall Riots and the many myths that surrounded the important event in 1969. I wanted to research the documented material and take a critical look at what had been written immediately after the initial bar raid as a way to understand why the event took place.
I felt it important to include this paper to showcase my earliest work within the program. Not only is this paper a good representation of where I began within the MLIS program, but it also showcases my interest in Queer related issues that would be an introduction into my research focuses on similar topics in later classes such as Values and Communities.