The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies will host the tenth-annual Archival Education and Research Institute (AERI) on campus from July 9-13.
The Archival Education and Research Initiative (AERI) is devoted to strengthening archival studies as an academic discipline, supporting archival research and education, and encouraging emerging archival scholars. As part of this mission, AERI supports yearly institutes, sponsored by academic institutions hosting archival education programs.
“We are delighted to welcome our colleagues to the University, and for many, on their first visit to Alabama,” said Dr. Robert Riter, co-organizer of AERI 2018 along with Dr. Tonia Sutherland.
These working meetings provide opportunities for archival studies faculty, doctoral students, scholar-practitioners, and emerging archival scholars to share research, discuss teaching methods, and consider the needs and responsibilities of the archival and records disciplines. Colleagues, representing an array of academic institutions, and eight countries, will devote a full week to these endeavors.
The institute kicked off Monday morning with a plenary session led by Kiara Boone, Deputy Program Manager for the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization with emphases on ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment and challenging racial and economic injustice.
Boone spoke to the importance of archival work in the EJI’s mission by noting that recordkeeping “helps people understand a more comprehensive truth of our history. If we do not have records of [racial injustice] then history will reshape the narrative over time.”
Boone is one of many outstanding presenters who will speak this week, sharing the importance archival work, research and education has in telling stories and effecting change in a wide variety of contexts.
About AERI: The Archival Education and Research Initiative is a collaborative effort among academic institutions to support the growth of a new generation of academics in archival and recordkeeping education and research who are versed in contemporary issues and knowledgeable of the work being conducted by colleagues. The initiative seeks to promote state-of-the-art in scholarship in Archival Studies, broadly conceived, as well as to encourage curricular and pedagogical innovation in archival education locally and worldwide. For more information, visit their website.
About SLIS: The School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) is a top-ranked program for library, information and book arts education. SLIS aims to develop creative and critical thinkers and leaders for the information world through a supportive teaching and learning environment, collaborative research and community engagement.
