Class trip to the beinecke rare book & manuscript library

Our discussion sessions were thoughtful and lively, but I did not want our texts simply to remain words on a page; I wanted them to became something more concrete and real for students. Through field trips to the Beinecke Library, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Yale Repertory Theater, students encountered the figure of “the criminal” and the notion of crime in their multiple dimensions, in their diverse manifestations, and in their everyday presence.

I taught students how to access the Beinecke’s databases and asked them to choose items they wanted to see in person. Students were able to page through the original manuscript of Austin Reed’s 1859 memoir The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict, which we read and discussed in class. Students also chose to see Tamar Stone’s Asylum... Institution... Sanitarium as well as portraits made of the Amistad captives after they arrived in New Haven. The final step of this learning process included reflections in which students drew connections between museum objects and previous class discussions.