Faculty are invited to teach with special collections: Proposals due Feb. 4

  • Two men and two women sit at a long table looking at a long tapestry. A woman with long brown hair stands at the far end looking at the object.
January 17, 2025

Yale faculty members can enrich their coursework by providing students with hands-on experience working with the library’s extensive special collections.

The Beinecke Education Program partners with faculty who wish to teach collection-intensive courses, which would include six or more class sessions in the library’s classrooms per semester.

Because of the rapidly growing interest in providing these opportunities to students, the library has launched a new proposal process. The advance planning will help library staff fully support the instructors and students and ensure that the course meets its intended goals.

Faculty members who wish to arrange a collections-intensive course for Spring 2026 should email a proposal by Feb. 4. The proposal may be submitted as a preliminary concept, as a draft syllabus, or in list format. Interested faculty will have the opportunity to consult with special collections librarians and curators to refine the concept, select materials, and create a schedule of visits.

To request single class sessions (from one to five), faculty members simply need to fill out the class visit request form, allowing four weeks’ advance notice.

For specific instructions for requesting and preparing for visits, participating faculty should consult the Guide for Instructors.

Read more about teaching with special collections in the Beinecke Education Program.

Image: Students viewing special collections object in the reading room of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Photo by Robert Lisak

—Deborah Cannarella