Inaugural Course Introduces Hoover Library & Archives to Stanford Students

"War, Revolution, and Peace: The View from Hoover Tower" is the first-ever course designed to introduce Stanford students to the history, collections, and operations of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. Inaugurated in Winter Quarter 2024 and sponsored by the International Relations Program, the class had an enrollment of 44 students, almost entirely undergraduates. Hoover Research Fellow Bert Patenaude, the Instruction & Outreach Archivist at the Library & Archives, served as course coordinator. L&A staff members from the Engagement, Research Services, Preservation, Digital Services, and Exhibitions teams introduced students to ongoing activities at the Library & Archives.

Patenaude opened the course with a presentation about the history of the institution. North American Collections Curator Jean McElwee Cannon introduced students to the Poster Collection, with a focus on posters of the First World War. Students were given a tour of the L&A facilities, including the exhibition galleries in the Tower. The final session featured Hoover Senior Fellow Stephen Kotkin talking about researching his monumental biography of Joseph Stalin.