The Brooke and Carol Peirce Center for Undergraduate Research in Special Collections

Goucher College created the Peirce Center to engage undergraduate students in hands-on learning in special collections and archives.

The Peirce Center is a multidisciplinary laboratory where students may direct their own exploration with guidance from librarians and faculty. Through original, creative research, students learn to interpret information, evaluate context, and engage in original scholarship.

The core activity of the center is enhancing students’ education through internships, research fellowships, course development and enhancement, lectures, master classes, field trips, digitization projects, exhibits, and other programs. The center also partners with faculty to incorporate rare and special materials into their curricula and pedagogies, enhancing Goucher’s reputation for offering innovative learning opportunities.

The center operates as a programmatic component of Special Collections & Archives of Goucher College and is directed by the special collections librarian and college archivist along with an advisory steering committee that includes faculty, staff, students, scholars, and the college librarian.