Community Archives Pedagogies in Poland and the US – an attempt at a comparative study

Abstract

The growing number of community archives, as well as the increasing scholarship on them, can be observed not only in the Anglophone countries that are most represented in the literature (especially the United Kingdom and the United States), but also in Poland. Community archives are also becoming a more recognizable ingredient of archival education. The article looks at the presence of community archives in university programs in the United States of America and Poland through six interviews conducted with archival educators from both locations teaching courses on community archives. The interviews covered among other course content and student assessment methods; challenges of teaching community archives; broader learning outcomes associated with these courses; advice for future educators. The article also tackles local contexts of community archives pedagogies in the US and Poland.