Through the lens of our local culture and history, this course will provide an introduction to using archives and special collections for research. After learning how archives are organized and how to navigate them, we will explore the politics of archival collections, learn to interrogate a wide variety of primary sources, and develop cross-disciplinary research questions based on these sources. Based in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives, students will get hands-on experience using collections, with a particular focus on student life, the College as institution, the Whitmans and their legacy, and the socio-cultural history of Walla Walla. Graded credit/no credit.