Diving Into The Archive

Posted March 20, 2025 by Emmy Mahoney

This semester, I have really been able to delve into the archives portion of the dual degree program, and I am having so much fun! I am currently taking two archives classes; the first class is called Introduction to Archival Theory and Practice, and the second is Archives, History and Collective Memory. In my introductory course, we have been exploring the fundamental principles of the archives, including original order and provenance. For this class, we are also paired with an institution for an archives internship. I just started mine at the beginning of March, at the Moses Brown School, in Providence, Rhode Island. This is my very first time working in an archives and it’s really cool to be applying what I have learned in class to this position. As I progress through this internship, I promise I will tell you all about it! 

In my second archives course, we have been contemplating how groups of people remember and the idea of a shared past. This class is so fascinating and has given me an entirely new perspective on what it means to remember. For our upcoming class, I will be the discussion leader for our conversation on collective memory and oral history. Both of these classes have strongly reaffirmed my decision to become an archivist and have made me especially excited for my two summer courses: Preservation Management and Archival Access and Use.