Opening the Archives: The “Stuff” of (Un)Making, (Re)Pairing, and (Re)Imagining

Archives and archivists have been described as agents with the power to control, privilege, and marginalize collections and their histories. This power can be wielded to determine the shape and direction of historical scholarship, collective memory, and identities, thereby impacting how we know ourselves as individuals, groups, and societies. These links are further complicated in archives where the provenance of collections is unclear. Students will gain a greater understanding of archival organization and authority, and are encouraged to imagine new modes of access to archives forging their own openings into/beyond the archives: making material traces and connections to produce critically engaged, creative works. Projects may take many forms: historiography; speculative, revisionist, or historical fictions; live or recorded performances; site-specific installations; single or multi-channel AV works, or curated programs.