Instruction and Education

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Instruction and Education

The AUC GLAM Center develops teaching and learning methods that promote in-depth faculty and student engagement with artworks, artifacts and other primary source materials from the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and the AUC Archives Research Center.  We offer one on one consultation services with archivists and/or GLAM Center staff, in class instructional sessions, monthly faculty develop workshops, and collaborative assignment creation.

GLAM Instruction

The GLAM Center for Collaborative Teaching and Learning connects the collections, archives, art, and cultural resources of the Atlanta University Center with teaching and learning across the AUC. Through object-based learning, the Center invites students and faculty to engage directly with artworks, artifacts, archival materials, and other primary sources as tools for research, critical inquiry, and creative exploration.  

Grounded in African American history, culture, and the experiences of the African Diaspora, the GLAM Center develops interdisciplinary learning opportunities that connect collections to contemporary questions of Black life, cultural memory, identity, gender, migration, social justice, HBCU history, Southern geographies, and popular culture. 

The GLAM Center supports AUC faculty and students through: 

  • Faculty consultations and collaborative instruction development 
  • Object-based learning sessions 
  • Faculty development workshops 
  • Collection orientations and research instruction 
  • Student engagement with artworks, archives, artifacts, and primary sources 

GLAM Curriculum Mission

The curriculum explores African American art and material culture from the 19th through the 21st century, with particular attention to artistic movements, Black cultural production, and the ways race, gender, sexuality, identity, place, and history shape artistic expression. GLAM instruction supports a wide range of disciplines, including Art History, African American and Africana Studies, Photography, History, Sociology, Anthropology, Comparative Women’s Studies, Mass Media, Creative Writing, English, Fashion, Music, Theatre, Urban Studies, and Performance Studies. 

Students develop the ability to: 

  • Analyze African American artistic practices, movements, and traditions. 
  • Interpret artworks and primary sources within their historical and cultural contexts. 
  • Explore the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, identity, and artistic production. 
  • Examine Black feminist approaches to art, history, and cultural expression. 
  • Connect AUC collections to the history and legacy of the Atlanta University Center. 
  • Develop research, visual literacy, critical thinking, and interpretive skills. 

Are you interested in incorporating GLAM collections into your course? Please fill out the Instruction Request Form.

Faculty Fellowship

The AUC GLAM Faculty Fellowship is a paid two-year fellowship which provides faculty training in object based pedagogical approaches to integrate artworks, artifacts, and other primary source materials into curriculum development to facilitate deep learning.

Learn More
Examples of Student Work
See more in Digital Exhibits
Stories of Loss and Recovery: Africana Studies and the Case for Reparations
Mining the Museum
The Erasure of Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement

Resources

Archives Research Center Resource Guide

Library Research Guides

Repository of AUC Digital Collections, Archives, and Research

AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library Virtual Services

AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library Student Services

AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library Faculty Services

I was exposed to a great array of resources and expertise in the AUC that I wasn't ware of before. I have a better sense of how to navigate within the archives (and I am still learning!)

AUC GLAM Faculty Fellow
While I have completed substantial archival research, I did not have knowledge about processing archival documents before working with the AUC GLAM programs and staff. The knowledge is transforming the way I am organizing archival materials related to my current and future research projects.
AUC GLAM Faculty Fellow
It [AUC GLAM Faculty Fellowship] provides the opportunity to engage students in different ways. All assignments developed through GLAM have been well received and my experiences with the GLAM staff have been positive.
AUC GLAM Faculty Fellow
Being a GLAM Faculty has transformed my pedagogical practices and improved the quality of student engagement in each of my courses. I have expanded the ways in which I assess student outcomes and integrated multiple aspects in the use of object-based learning in each of my courses.
AUC GLAM Faculty Fellow
I have learned to be more intentional with assignments and to structure ways to digitally archive in-class work.
AUC GLAM Faculty Fellow
I have gained considerable knowledge around the importance of collaborative projects that are possible with faculty and students in AUC.
AUC GLAM Faculty Fellow
Martina Dodd and Tiffany Atwater have given my students access to unique materials they would not have seen outside the archive. But perhaps even more important, they have shown my students HOW to look at historical material in a deep way. The material in the archive is deeply relevant, but the habits of looking and questioning that are cultivated through archival experiences are even more valuable.
Dr. Patricia Ventura, Spelman College
Library staff helped to ensure that students had access to the resources necessary to conduct research and complete papers and projects. Virtual sessions provided students with clarity and direction; they appreciated the opportunity to reach out to library staff with questions specific to their individual assignments.
Dr. Charmayne Patterson, Clark Atlanta University
The staff at Woodruff Archives offered support that significantly enhanced my classroom experience. Many of my students worked with archival material for the first time at Woodruff, and I'm grateful for the expertise that Tiffany Atwater, Martina Dodd, and Sarah Tanner shared with us.
Dr. Yasmine Espert, Spelman College