OPENING DOORS THROUGH COLLABORATION: UNDERSTANDING THE INCARCERATION OF

MATERIALS AND METHODS: AN EXAMPLE ABSTRACT

This poster illustrates how colleagues in two academic departments, the English and Library, collaborate to help students complete a research essay and to deepen their appreciation of the process and content of the project.

INTRODUCTION

The collaboration of two departmental disciplines, English and the Library, at a community college, 1 2 3 results in the development of a multi-themed course based on a significant historical event: the Snow Falling on Cedars “ … a soldier gave them tags for their “They were taken … to a transit camp. “ … buses took them … to a place internment of Japanese Americans during World by suitcases and coats. They waited They lived in the horse stalls ….” (p.217) called … [that had] War II. Government mandated and directed, the (an historical novel, among their bags in the cold …. ” barbed wire and rows of dark incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry Harcourt Brace, 1994) (p.216) barracks blurred by blowing dust.” includes much information about this shameful (p. 218) period in US history as well as resonates with current-day events. Working together, the English Department and the Library open doors (resources) for each other and students who are guided in their research topic, which, ironically, is about closed doors. The English Department uses a text-based approach (novels, memoirs, poetry, essays) and visuals (art, film) and guest speakers. The Library reciprocates by providing the necessary bridge to primary sources from vast digital collections of two federal agencies, the Library of Congress (LC) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). 8 Both include photographs, maps, political 4 6 5 cartoons, posters, films and written documents. 7 Also there are analytical tools that give students a deeper appreciation of primary sources. The two disciplines, English and the Library, build the foundation students need to investigate topics, such as democracy, citizenship, bigotry, racism, civil rights; all of which are connected to or associated with the internment of Japanese Americans and contemporary issues.

CONTACT

9 10 11 12 Professor Kathy Blessing Community College of Rhode Island Flanagan Campus Library [email protected] SOURCES 7 Photograph analysis worksheet. National Archives and Records Administration 1 Mochida family awaiting evacuation bus. Photographer Dorothea Lange, Hayward, CA, May 8, 1942. (https://www.archives.gov/files/education/lessons/worksheets/photo_analysis_worksheet.pdf). Professor Rosemary Prisco National Archives and Records Administration, “Records of the ” (Photo no. 210-GC-153). Community College of Rhode Island 8. Manzanar from guard tower, view west (Sierra Nevada in background). Photographer Ansel Adams, Manzanar Relocation 2. Newly assembled barracks. Photographer Dorothea Lange, Tanforan Assembly Center, San Bruno, CA, April 29,1942. National Center, CA (1943). Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ppprs-00200, digital file from original negative). Flanagan Campus English Department Archives and Records Administration, “Records of the War Relocation Authority” (Photo no. 210-G-C324). [email protected] 9. Teacher’s Guide: Analysizing films. Library of Congress 3. Dust storm at Manzanar Relocation Center. Photographer Dorothea Lange, Manzanar, CA, July 3, 1942. National Archives (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/resources/Analyzing_Motion_Pictures.pdf). and Records Administration, “Records of the War Relocation Authority” (Photo No. 210-G-10C-839). 10. Teacher’s Guide: Primary source set for Japanese American Internment. Library of Congress 4. Newsreel: A Challenge to Democracy (1944). National Archives and Records Administration, “Records of the War Relocation (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/internment/). Authority” (NARA ID: :39226). Published on YouTube by DENSO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8F8zP0T19k). 11. Japanese American Internment and Relocation Records: Introduction. National Archives and Records Administration 5. Video anaysis worksheet. National Archives and Records Administration (https://www.archives.gov/research/japanese-americans/internment-intro). (https://www.archives.gov/files/education/lessons/worksheets/motion_picture_analysis_worksheet.pdf). 12. Teacher’s Guide: Analysizing visuals [Photos and Prints]. Library of Congress 6. Primary source analysis tools logo. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/guides.html). (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/resources/Analyzing_Photographs_and_Prints.pdf).

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