Finding The Sources

A Historical And A Librarian Unite

Abstract

Team-teaching, a topic that generates a great deal of discussion among academics interested in pedagogy, usually involves professors from different disciplines teaching a single class from the perspective of two academic fields. For example, a historian and a geographer might teach a course on the Silk Road, or a historian and a literary critic might combine their knowledge to design a class on racism. The combinations are endless. Although pedagogical literature has focused on the teamwork required for successful team-teaching experiences, little discussion has been generated on alternative collaborative efforts between historians and their colleagues.

This article presents a collaboration between a historian, Gayle V. Fischer, and a librarian, Mia Morgan. As we take you through the history of our ongoing collaboration, we will introduce an historical exercise that you might find useful in the classroom. But we hope that you learn from our experience and see the potential for collaborative efforts that do not require committing an entire semester or course to an "experiment." Additionally, working with a colleague can enrich the study of history f or your students and yourself.