Special Collections at Georgia Southern University Libraries
Teaching with Special Collections
Georgia Southern faculty can enhance their courses by incorporating materials from Special Collections, providing students with unique access to primary sources and historical materials. By integrating these resources, faculty can deepen students' understanding of course content and foster critical thinking skills.
Pictured: Dr. Eaton's HONS 3130: Early Modern Philosophy course visit Special Collections in Spring 2024.
Example of Special Collections Sessions
- Introduction to Special CollectionsGuided by the Special Collections Librarian, students will be introduced to the wide array of materials housed within the library. They'll develop practical skills to access and navigate these resources, empowering them to conduct their own Special Collections research. The session will be interactive, offering hands-on opportunities to explore manuscript collections, rare books, and more!
- Old Meets New: Hands-On Exploration of Rare Books and Their Digital CounterpartsStudents have the opportunity to interact with a thematic selection of the library’s rare book collection, analyzing their physical features and historical context. Through hands-on examination, they explore details like binding, book material, typography, illustrations, and marginalia/annotations. The Special Collections Librarian guides students to compare physical copies with their digitized counterparts, examining how technology affects access and interpretation of the work.
Example of Course Projects with Special Collections
- HUMN 3431 | Manuscripts and Early Printed Book collectionThe materials highlighted in this digital project represent the oldest materials housed in the collection. They were digitized and described by undergraduate researchers in the Digital Humanities program under the supervision of Dr. Robert K. Batchelor, Professor of History, and Autumn Johnson, Special Collections Librarian.
- HIST 3030 | Tracing Mexico's Shifting Cultural Identity through Print MediaUndergraduate students in HIST 3030: History of Mexico were responsible for researching and creating this digital exhibition using materials of Mexican origin in the Henderson Library Special Collections' Latin American & Caribbean collection. The goal of the exhibition was to introduce the Georgia Southern community to the new collection and provide helpful historical context and original interpretations of the material that can educate visitors and encourage future student research on interesting and in some cases unique historical artifacts.
- HIST 5138 | Whose House? Building Names at Georgia SouthernThe Spring 2022 course examined the social, intellectual, cultural, economic, and political history of the post-Civil War South with an emphasis on Georgia's role. The digital exhibition explores the buildings on Georgia Southern University's Statesboro campus and the people who inspired the building names.