Writing, archives and exhibits: Piloting partnerships between special collections and writing classes

The University of Denver (DU) Libraries has been producing exhibitions for close to a decade and has recently increased its efforts to partner with classes, campus units and community organizations to integrate exhibit practices and resources into curricular and co-curricular opportunities. Student- and class-curated exhibitions feature prominently in the DU Libraries’ strategic plan, and the long-term partnerships between the Libraries and the DU Writing Program are central to the library’s agenda. Through an interdisciplinary lens of critical information literacy, archival theory, museology and Writing Studies, this article explores the 5-year collaboration and exhibition project between DU Special Collections and Archives and a faculty member of the DU Writing Program. The authors cover the background of the partnership, the evolution of the instructive and creative elements of the course, with a particular focus on the integration of archival research and exhibition practice, and examples of various iterations of the student-curated exhibits produced as part of the coursework. The article concludes with a discussion of the cross-disciplinary outcomes and challenges of initiating and managing a collaborative university writing and research course incorporating archives and exhibition in an academic library in the United States.