What's WRI 240/241 about?

What do Hokusai’s prints of ghosts and Toni Morrison’s maps of a fictional town have in common? Beyond being compelling imaginative documents, both are examples of objects humanists across disciplines engage with to produce new knowledge about our experiences of the world. For instance, an art historian might examine Hokusai’s woodblock prints to understand how his line work reflects and adapts previous woodcut printing conventions, while an East Asian historian could investigate what these ghosts reveal about 19th-century Japanese imaginations of the supernatural. Similarly, a literature scholar might study Morrison’s maps with a focus on how spatial relationships complicate a novel’s themes, even as an African American Studies researcher could investigate how depictions of geographic segregation perpetuate collective memories of Jim Crow. Such research is not limited to professional scholars, however. Undergraduates can also develop original projects by investigating objects like these in Princeton’s Special Collections. 

This sophomore research seminar immerses students in Firestone’s Special Collections to explore the kinds of knowledge production archival research methodologies make possible and how one’s object(s) of focus and disciplinary approach might determine effective ways to communicate findings. From curating a set of objects and ethically practicing a range of interpretive strategies, to producing knowledge with diverse audiences in mind, students will begin developing the practical skills and habits of mind foundational to archival humanities scholarship. In the fall, we establish the fundamentals of how to do archival research, consider the ethical positionality a researcher’s identity creates, discover the kinds of archival research projects undertaken in Princeton’s humanities departments and programs, and learn how to narrow a project’s scope through evaluating a range of methodological frameworks and the kinds of research questions they inspire. Then, in the spring, we practice applying methodological frameworks to develop a projects’ scholarly content, weigh the opportunities and constraints dissemination modes enable, collaborate with campus partners like the library’s Digital Imaging Studio and the Center for Digital Humanities to learn cutting-edge tools to present archival research, and imagine how these methods and skills might support independent research work at Princeton and in the service of humanity.  

A prospective history concentrator interested in Indigenous Peoples’ experiences of dispossession might investigate how translations of English hymns into Indigenous languages shed light on the westward expansion of Canadian and American borders. An aspiring African American studies concentrator might create a model of Toni Morrison’s professional network to better understand her editorial role in fostering political consciousness. Students interested in art history might scrutinize John James Audubon’s double-barreled shotgun alongside an elephant folio of Birds of America (1827) to theorize the relationship between art object and its creator’s problematic biography, while linguists and archaeologists could examine 300-year-old Ethiopian magic scrolls to understand the evolution of the semitic language Ge‘ez and the sociopolitical relationships bound up in scroll-production and distribution. A prospective history major might pore over Aaron Burr’s death mask to characterize how it mythologizes a Revolutionary Princetonian, and German or religion majors could create a digital comparison of passages from pre-Luther vernacular Bibles to show how a translator’s choices impact theological reform. Musicologists could examine Beethoven’s 1815-16 musical sketchbook in light of published scores to understand his creative process, while Latin American Studies or Spanish majors might dive into recently acquired photo and program albums of Puerto Rican dancer/choreographer Alma Concepción to create a visual history of a choreography’s performance evolution. All topics and students are welcome, whether you plan to major in a humanities field or not! 

How do the schedule and assignments work?

“Cuneiform, Codices, Comics” operates on a year-long, half-time schedule. The course meets for one 80-minute block each week (instead of the standard two) and holds six 50-minute precepts each semester (instead of the standard twelve). For Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, WRI 240/241 will hold regular seminar meetings on Tuesdays from 10:40 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., and precepts will be organized around student availability at the start of the fall term.  

Short, weekly assignments comprise 50% of each student’s final course grade and are organized around research skills relevant to their individual project and intellectual goals. Those smaller assignments are also the building blocks of each semester’s summative assignment (each contributing 15% to each student’s final grade) and the inspiration for each semester’s concluding exercise (each contributing 5%)—about how their research experiences and learning might transfer to other courses and contexts. 

What else should I know?

Like all sophomore research seminars housed in the Writing Program, this course will include sessions on obtaining undergraduate research funding, building a research network at Princeton (and beyond!), balancing professional ambition with personal wellbeing, cultivating a supportive peer writing community, and sharing research findings effectively in public-facing genres. 

For more information, review the Registrar’s listing for WRI 240/241.