Course Design, Images, and the Class-Curated Exhibit

Abstract

This article discusses the restructuring of a literature course to include a student-curated exhibit featuring rare, illustrated volumes from the University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries. Faculty and library staff offered an experiential learning project for students to develop skills in the areas of primary source literacy, basic exhibit design, visual and textual analysis, process writing, and public presentation. We reflect upon the challenges and opportunities of project management and offer three models for integrating rare books and exhibit curation into a range of courses across disciplines.