One of our primary missions at the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is to support research, teaching, and learning through the use of the materials in our collection. This semester we’ve had over two dozen classes and hundreds of students pass through the doors of our reading room, and many more have come on their own to conduct further research on a diverse array of topics and disciplines such as architecture, history, urban studies, visual studies, education, dance, film and media arts, criminal justice, and journalism.

This semester J. Pascoe, a Philadelphia-based artists and instructor at Tyler School of Art, brought her Visual Studies and Graphic Art and Design classes into the SCRC, so that her students could interact with and explore some of our artists’ books and zine holdings.

When asked what value she placed in class visits to the SCRC, Pascoe says that “I bring my students to the SCRC because as an artist, an educator, and–frankly–as a human moving through this world, it behooves me to know what other people around me are making and doing. It’s not enough to pay attention to only what your friends or colleagues are doing. As artists, it’s important to know what’s being made out there and why.”

“More specifically, students come to my class wanting to make books and zines. They want to make things with their hands and they, ideally, want other people to hold finished work in their hands. We talk a lot about hand skills and hand work in my classes, so it’s no surprise I champion taking opportunities with my students to put our hands on other people’s work, too. To be able to hold books and zines and spend time with them–that’s where some real learning happens. I see more ‘light bulbs’ moments happen in collections and archives than in studio spaces.”

Student work inspired by their visits to the SCRC can be found on a class blog for Visual Studies 4554.  This is just one example of how the SCRC continues to support teaching and learning on the Temple campus and beyond.
-Josué Hurtado, Coordinator of Public Services & Outreach