We have two updates to report regarding the Folger Orientation to Research Methods and Agendas skills course:

Please note that the program dates have moved up one week for this August program to ensure that more early-stage graduate students for whom it is designed will be able to take better advantage of this opportunity before they report for fall orientation.

Also, Professor Elisa Oh (Howard University) has accepted the invitation to direct this weeklong skills course.

Applications are still due Monday, March 3.

Graduate students in their first two years of study should consider applying to the

Folger Orientation to Research Methods and Agendas (weeklong skills course)

Directed by Elisa Oh (Howard University)

The best research is based on inquiry and allows for serendipity. A scholar needs to sharpen research questions and search skills simultaneously and with sensitivity to the ways questions and sources affect each other. The available evidence may invite a new thesis, require a revised approach, or even suggest a new field of exploration. This intensive week is not designed to advance participants’ individual research projects. Rather, it aims to cultivate the participants’ curiosity about primary resources by using exercises that engage their research interests. It is offered to help early-stage graduate students develop a set of research-oriented literacies as they explore the Folger Collections in ways that will be useful for navigating other collections. With the guidance of visiting faculty and curatorial staff from the Folger, twelve to fourteen participants will examine bibliographical tools and their logics, hone their early modern book description skills, learn best practices for organizing and working with digital images, and improve their understanding of the cultural and technological histories of texts. Participants will ask reflexive questions about the nature of primary sources, the collections that house them, and the tools whereby one can access them.

Anticipated Schedule: Tuesday through Saturday, August 5-9, 2025, at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Apply: March 3, 2025, for admission and grants-in-aid for Folger Institute Consortium affiliates.

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