UAH in London

This digital exhibit is the culmination of HON 399 Keep Calm and Research On, an Honors College Spring Break study abroad course to London. With the goal of creating a digital project around a narrow research topic related to British history and culture, each HON 399 student has chosen a topic of interest to them and conducted archival research at libraries, archives, and museums of their choice in and around London. Repositories they have visited included the British Library, the British Museum, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Library and Archives, and Oxford University's Bodleian Library. The students have used their research to create digital projects, which include images of their chosen primary sources and a descriptive essay. Each student has also produced a research poster.

Taught by Head of Archives and Special Collections Reagan Grimsley, the course itself explores the culture of the United Kingdom through libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) and offered an introduction to research and digital scholarship skills. Each student examines the overall history and culture of the UK in stateside class meetings before embarking on the journey to London. Students investigate general trends in the development of LAMs in the UK and learned how to conduct research in some of the United Kingdom’s finest archives, libraries, and museums. As the class examines the LAM landscape, students learn about topics including aerospace history, architecture, medieval manuscripts, the lives of prominent British authors, the history of London, the history of the book, and the history of science. The course is a mixture of campus lecture and discussion with a study abroad trip to London, England during Spring Break.