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The CCRA blog is authored by Columbia undergraduate researchers, who are invited to reflect on all aspects of the research process and their own undergraduate research experiences, beginning (but not ending) with the Core.
Category Archives: Libraries
Marathoning and the Yearlong Thesis
As a senior in the urban studies program, the yearlong thesis is a requirement for graduation and, at least in the four months since I began my work, a deeply formative experience. But from what I can tell, the experience … Continue reading
Posted in Columbia Libraries, Libraries, Senior Thesis
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In Search of an Original Contribution
When I began the senior thesis process, my seminar instructors made it clear that my project should address a “gap in the scholarship” in order to make an “original contribution.” This terrified me. I had serious doubts that I, at … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Faculty Mentors, Libraries, Senior Thesis, Uncategorized
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Hunting for the Right Archives
In my last blog post, I wrote about the preparation that goes into preparing to write a senior thesis, especially in Columbia’s history department. Since then, I’ve received a few questions on archives: how to locate them; how to plan … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Coursework, Historic Sites, Interviews, Libraries, major research, Senior Thesis
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Researching in Small Archives: Sample Emails
In my previous blog post, I wrote about researching in small archives. This week I am sharing tips for making contact with small archives. While the art of the cold e-mail may differ somewhat depending on who you write, think … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Faculty Mentors, Historic Sites, Libraries, major research, New York City, Summer Research, The Humanities
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Researching in Small Archives: Tips and Advice
Today I’m here to talk about my experiences with small archives, which have been not only invaluable to my research but also some of my fondest research memories. I will first introduce these archives, explain some aspects of how they … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Historic Sites, Libraries, major research, New York City, Senior Thesis, The Humanities, Uncategorized
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Exploring Paris through Its Archives
Archival research is already demanding enough as is, so the challenge can only mount when researching in a foreign language in a foreign archive. If you find yourself in this situation, however, fret not! In the blog post that follows, I … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Faculty Mentors, Funding, Libraries, major research, Summer Research, The Humanities
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My Time as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow
The semester is ending soon, and with it, my time as an undergraduate is also coming to a close. As I reflect on my college career—four years fraught with rising climate catastrophes, a global pandemic, and escalating international conflicts—I owe … Continue reading
Posted in Adversity, COVID-19, Funding, Libraries, Life, major research, postgraduation plans, The Canon, The Humanities
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Another Apology for Idlers or An Apology for Idlers in Archives
My first introduction to any kind of archive was in high school when, on a teacher’s recommendation, I visited the Prelinger Library—a small library, just one large room, and open to anyone, in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, and … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Libraries, The Humanities
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Literature as an Archive
In recent years, I have wrestled with certain dilemmas historical scholarship poses. A central one is how do we contemplate, write about, and represent people who do not appear within the archive? In the past, historical scholarship have been very … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Libraries, major research, postgraduation plans, Senior Thesis, Uncategorized
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Meditations on the Archival Turn
Ann Laura Stoler described the shift in historical studies from “archive-as-source to archive as subject” as the “archival turn,” a shift in the intellectual paradigm necessitated, in part, by desires to write subaltern histories. Rather than reading archives along the … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Historic Sites, Libraries, major research, Senior Thesis, The Humanities, Writing
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