This is an exciting opportunity for undergraduate students: The Newberry Library Undergraduate Seminar (NLUS). The topic of the 2024-25 academic year’s seminar is “Chicago Memoir: From the Page to the Archive.”
NLUS is an especially good opportunity for strong, highly motivated juniors and seniors who are prepared for and want an intensive research experience. It also can be an excellent experience for those considering graduate study in the humanities or social sciences. Many students from past seminars have commented on how NLUS challenged them intellectually and helped motivate and prepare them to pursue advanced study. They also have enjoyed working with interesting students from other Chicago-area universities.
Some basic information about the seminar:
· This is a semester-long seminar that meets at the Newberry Library mid-January through early May for in 3-hour sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. (It runs over DePaul’s winter and spring quarters.)
· Twenty students participate in the seminar, five from each of the following universities: DePaul, Loyola, UIC, and Roosevelt.
· The interdisciplinary seminar is team-taught, this year by two instructors from the Newberry: Dr. Kara Johnson, Director of Teacher Programs, and Lisa Schoblasky, Director of Reader Services.
· During the first part of the course students investigate topics related to the seminar’s theme and work with various types of resources in the Newberry’s collections. Then, under the guidance of the instructors and using primary sources from the Newberry, they select a topic to explore and develop into an original research paper and presentation.
· For DePaul students, the seminar counts for 9 credit hours (4.5 for winter quarter and 4.5 for spring quarter). These credits will count for classes in two different departments, typically English and history. (Some majors allow both courses to count toward their major, even though the credits must be taken in two different departments.) Students must complete the semester-long course to receive credit for either quarter.
· The course can fulfill the Experiential Learning (JYEL) requirement in the Liberal Studies program, and Honors students can often apply at least half the credits (the equivalent of one course) toward requirements in the Honors program (determined on a case-by-case basis).
· The deadline for student applications is October 5, 2024 (11:59 p.m.).
· Applicants may not know whether they have been admitted before winter quarter registration opens, so they should go ahead and register for winter quarter (WQ) classes as they normally would. They should, however, be ready to drop one WQ course and to make Tuesday and Thursday afternoons available if they are accepted into NLUS. They will know by Thanksgiving whether they have been accepted (or selected as an alternate). To secure their slots, accepted students will need to enroll by early December.
The application deadline is Thursday, October 5, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.
The application form and additional information are available at the History Department’s website, under “Student Resources”:
Questions? Contact the NLUS director: megan.heffernan@depaul.edu
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