Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Archiving for Feminist and Critical Consciousness

Dear Seminar Members:

... and a final few questions for the research log, inspired by yesterday's unpacking of selected passages from Kirsch's chapter on feminist research at a "crossroads":

1) Based on what you understand to be fundamental principles of the "feminist ethic" in composition studies, is it possible to justify either the Banneker History Project or Ripley's edited collection of Black Abolitionist Papers as feminist? Why, or why not? Draw heavily on all texts you use to justify a response.

2) Does either of these projects (Banneker History Project or Black Abolitionist Papers) complicate or reflect some of the limitations of the feminist research paradigm that Kirsch discusses on pp. 17-23?

3) At this point in the semester, what is your understanding of how feminist theories can or should intersect with archival theories? In other words, how could you (and why would you) put one of our feminist theorists this semester into conversation with one of our archival theorists? On what would they converse? How would their ideas enhance or complicate one another? How could one theorist act as a lens onto another theorist's ideas? And how could that relationship, in turn, help to answer part of your research question?

Good luck and have fun extending this toward your final project!

-Professor Graban

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Digitization, Access, Vandalism, and More ...

Hi, everyone.

Today's discussion of digitization inspired a few more questions for me that I would like to share. Feel free to take up one or more of these in your final research log:

1. What makes the 9/11 archive an archive, rather than just a collection of born-digital texts? (You may be interested in viewing the older version of the 9/11 site, as well.) In responding, think about some of what we discussed in class today, i.e., about archival spaces being negotiated and renegotiated, about the expectations we bring to archives in terms of power, purpose, pliability, in/stability, etc.

2. The following photograph records from the Monroe County Historical Society make a nice example of records that show interaction between artifacts and the public.
Can you articulate or describe the kinds of archival interactions that these records promote? Support? Encourage? Now, what kinds of interactions (or relationships) would they discourage? (Hint: try using the page before responding.)

3. Ramsey cites Karin Becker of the Nordic Museum in Stockholm in saying that "the museum has also become the institutionalized arbiter of value" (Becker 3, qtd. in Ramsey 84). What does this mean, and how is it significant in light of some your own discoveries about archival value, copyright, and technology during today's class discussion?

4. What kinds of practical, conceptual, and theoretical gaps can digitizing women's collections create (according to Ramsey, Cox, and Carlson)? You might think about whether you see any relationship between these three readings and Bordelon (on Gertrude Buck) and Endelman (on cultural and material artifacts).

5. Ramsey mentions that digital archives exist in "non-locations" (86). What does this mean, and how does this resonate with something you remember from Steedman (Dust), Boles ("Disrespecting Original Order"), or Yakel ("Archival Representation")?

6. Should we digitize the Hennel Hendricks Collection? Why and/or why not?

Have fun!

-Professor Graban