Requirements for the Certificate in Material Histories of the Human Record
Students who wish to receive the certificate must complete the following course work, research, and teaching requirements:
1. MHHR 700: “Theory and Praxis of Material Histories”
2. Additional Coursework: Each student will be required to take two elective courses, which will also count towards the student’s doctoral coursework in their department. At least one of these courses would need to be substantively taught with collections, the other course may be a directed reading or focus on archives, book history, or metadata as a theoretical or historical object of study. Each student will be expected to organize their elective courses around a concentration related to their departmental coursework and doctoral research. A list of eligible Yale courses will be compiled each academic year.
3. Practicum: In addition to the two elective courses, in order to facilitate specialization, students will be expected to propose a capstone project with one of Yale’s cultural heritage institutions (to be approved by the student’s DGS and the co-directors of the Certificate). This practicum can take place either during the academic year (in years 2 or 3 of graduate study), or during the summer (at the end of years 2 or 3). It will be structured as a directed reading/independent study for course credit and will involve practical experience in the field. From the start of their pursuit of the certificate, students will consult with the co-directors on what kinds of projects would work best for them. Possible projects include assisting with: the curation of an exhibition, reparative archival description, the Black Bibliography Project, provenance research, scientific conservation analysis. The practicum should culminate in a either a final paper and/or a public presentation (which might take the form of a symposium, a finding aid, a descriptive bibliography, an edition, an exhibit, a digital humanities project, etc.). The co-directors will maintain an ongoing list of possible opportunities and also help to facilitate new ones based on students’ and librarians’ interest. Students will then be matched with an appropriate advisor/mentor who help guide the project.
4. Teaching: Students will commit to doing significant teaching in the collections through one of the following pathways: (a) serving as a teaching fellow in a course with a substantial collections-based curriculum (such as courses associated with the Six Pretty Good Ideas first-year program); (b) assisting with a Beinecke intensive course 3-4 times a semester; (c) supporting collections-based courses on a one-off basis 4-6 times over the course of a year. In addition to providing students with pedagogical training, this requirement will expand the opportunities for undergraduates to be exposed to and engage with Yale’s collections. The co-directors will also work on creating Graduate Professional Development opportunities for students within the Yale libraries which can be used as a substitute for the teaching requirement. Students should plan to consult early with the certificate co-directors and their DGS to plan for this requirement.