Engaging with primary sources spurs us to understand ourselves as producers of knowledge and not just its passive consumers. It also illuminates how unevenly history is documented and reveals the mechanisms by which cultural memory is lost and preserved. Ultimately, it opens up possibilities for reclaiming a place in the archives and a voice in history. With access to primary sources, we can newly apprehend the archival past, recover it, and reconceive it.
In courses taught at NYU in 2017–19, faculty have developed both tangible and imaginative ways to make the past accessible to their students. The Downtown Collection has been a key site for student investigations into social history, underground movements, experimental art scenes, community activism, and the significance of place. Below you will find assignments and other concrete examples from NYU courses, as well as digital tools for incorporating collaborative research, peer learning, multimedia storytelling, and culture mapping into new courses that engage with the archive.
- For quick links to guides on doing archival research, see the Research & Teaching homepage.
- To learn more about New York City’s downtown scene and the Downtown Collection, see Martin J. Taylor’s A History of the Downtown Scene on this site before turning to essays that illuminate the Downtown Collection’s origins as well as the theoretical questions it continues to provoke. We have provided a selected bibliography to support further research.
- To set up a class visit to the Downtown Collection that is tailored to your course content, contact Nicholas Martin, the Librarian for Fales Archival Collection & Reference Services.
- To contribute materials to this section, please contact David Sugarman (dss368@nyu.edu).
- To learn more about the digital teaching and research tools available to NYU faculty and students, contact NYU Bobst Digital Services or Undergraduate & Instructional Services or set up a Digital Consultation.
ASSIGNMENTS
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Archival Discovery
Assignments related to objects in the Downtown Collection. |
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Contextualizing Archival Objects
Assignments related to the historical and cultural context of the Downtown Collection. |
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Assignments related to the geography and urban history of the Downtown Collection. |
TEACHING AND RESEARCH TOOLS
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Faculty who want to incorporate mapping and multimedia storytelling into their courses have multiple tools at their disposal. A selected list of digital tools and assignments can be found here. To learn more about using these tools, contact NYU Bobst Digital Services or Undergraduate & Instructions Services or set up a Digital Consultation. |
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NewYorkScapes is an NYU-based research community exploring the application of digital concepts, tools, and resources to the study of the history of urban cultures and landscapes. It has produced an array of projects related to New York City, including: |
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To support research into downtown performance spaces, this database (in progress) gives addresses and brief descriptions of current and historical downtown venues supporting experimental & underground music. |
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NYU Gallatin’s Urban Democracy Lab offers a range of events and resources that relate to the downtown scene’s urban history and legacy. |