Look at those seasonings! Source: Pixabay
So, we are going to the Santa Clara University Archives and I need to pick a topic. There are a lot of different topics I could pick from. I could go into the garlic and explore the history of the Santa Clara Mission. I could go into the lavender and explore the sports at Santa Clara. I could go into chiles and explore the development of the languages department. Or I can go into the chives and explore the role and treatment of women at SCU. I am overwhelmed by how many things I could research but because I am me…I want to explore something that deals with gender equality.
What a surprise. Source: Public Domain Pictures
Obviously this has to be in the context of SCU (just look at Tirabassi’s article which mention the principle of selectivity which is defined as ” the researcher’s understanding of how archivists select and omit artifacts for a given collection”). Clearly, I need to find a source in the archive and as an archive they pretty much have sources that are directly related to SCU.
Back to the Strange Metaphor
I have found my frame- gender- but in order to find my source I could dive into the garlic, chiles, and lavender again.
In the Garlic:
I could look at the role of women in the church.
I could look at the nuns when the mission was active.
In the Lavender:
I could look at how women were integrated into sports after they began to be admitted.
I could look at the feeling of the student body as women began to participate in sports.
In the Chiles:
I could look at the role or treatment of women professors or students within the department.
What I am trying to say is that I could get even more focused if I were to look at specific department or segments of the community.
Who Knows What I Will Find
Any of these topics would be fascinating to me so whatever I might find in the archive ( a journal, newspaper, yearbook, or letter) I am hopeful that this paper will be interesting to write.
Works Cited
Alexis, Ramsey E., and Katherine Tirabassi. “Ramsey, Alexis E. “Journeying into the Archives: Exploring the Pragmatics of Archival Research.” Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2010. 169-79. Print.” Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 169-79. Print.