Armondo Collins' class Blacks in American Society is looking for sources for an assignment on victims of police brutality. A number of students have come to the desk looking for biographical information, obituaries, and police reports. Some students haven't been able to find as much as they'd hoped -- some nothing more than a few news articles -- and have been frustrated. Amy reached out to Armondo to get clarification on the assignment and see how we could best help the students. This was his (very cool) response:
"Their assignment is to use newspapers and any other public sources (court records, social media profiles, etc.) to create a biographical sketch of thier victim, the perpetrator(s), and the legal circumstances that caused their death. Not finding information is okay, that is one of the points of the assignment, they are creating history from vague documentary sources. I told them that's what scholars in African-American studies often have to do. I also told them to imagine they were creating a biography of themselves, think of all the outlets available for people to find out more information about you. The ref desk has been doing a great job helping them get started. One of the goals of the class is to get them to use campus resources like the library to conduct research. Most of the class are freshman and this is one of their first research experiences. So I'm pleased they've been going. Please also encourage the desk to send them down to me. I love student questions about research."
Armondo's office is 043 Jackson, in the DMC. The assignment is due next Tuesday, October 10th.
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