The Center for the Humanities welcomes graduate students for our series: UM / User's Manual to the Humanities! Join us to learn from other graduate students and from faculty about strategies for navigating graduate school while preparing for your career!
Workshops for Spring 2026: "Archival Research and Oral Histories" with our UM Libraries colleages:
Amanda Moreno-Schroeder, Librarian Associate Professor, Esperanza Bravo de Varona Chair and Director, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries
Béatrice Colastin Skokan, Librarian Professor, Head of Manuscripts & Archives Management and Curator of Caribbean Collections, University of Miami Libraries
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 @ 2:00 - 3:00pm | Richter Library, Second Floor, Cuban Heritage Collection
Workshop 1: "Oral History Projects – A Guide to Getting Started”
The workshop will serve as a guide for starting oral history projects including the various aspects involved in planning, interviewing, and preserving recordings. Attendees will also be introduced to the ethical and legal considerations of oral history as a method for conducting research as well as University of Miami Libraries resources that support oral history initiatives.
to register and participate in this Workshop!
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 @ 2:00 - 3:00pm | Richter Library, Second Floor, Cuban Heritage Collection
Workshop 2: "Critical Approaches to Archival Research in the Humanities”
Archives are foundational to humanities research, shaping the questions we ask and the sources we use. At the same time, archives reflect the historical moments, institutional priorities, and descriptive practices that brought materials together in the first place. This workshop invites graduate students to think intentionally about archives as constructed spaces shaped by power, language, and institutional choices. Through engagement with primary sources, we’ll explore how archival silences are produced, how description and metadata affect what can be found (and what remains hidden), and how researchers can read “against the grain” to surface marginalized histories.
No prior archival experience is required. The focus is on strengthening your critical toolkit for working with primary sources in coursework, dissertations, and future research.
to register and participate in this Workshop!
Amanda T. Moreno-Schroeder, MSLIS/MA, is the Esperanza Bravo de Varona Chair and Director of the Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) at the University of Miami Libraries. She holds a dual MA/MSLIS degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Library and Information Science from New York University (NYU) and Long Island University, supported by a NYU MacCracken Fellowship, American Library Association Spectrum scholarship, and a fellowship from the Association of Research Libraries' Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce. Amanda participated in the Smithsonian’s Latino Museum Studies Program in 2015 and was a Rare Book School-Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage from 2020 to 2024.
In her role as Director of the CHC, Amanda oversees departmental operations, collection development, public outreach, community engagement, and fundraising. She previously served as the Collection’s Archivist from 2017 to 2023, managing and processing historical collections related to Cuba and its diaspora, and providing reference and instruction services to students, faculty, and independent researchers.
She is an active member of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), where she has served as Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee (2020-2022) and Chair of the Special Collections and Archives Committee (2023-2026). She previously served as Co-Chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Heritage Archives (LACCHA) Section of the Society of American Archivists (2018-2020).
Béatrice Colastin Skokan joined the faculty in 2009 and serves as the Head of Manuscripts and Archives Management. She is responsible for the management and assessment of manuscripts and archival processing for collections in all formats across the distinctive collections within the UM Libraries. As Curator of Caribbean Collections, she leads the coordination of collection development, exhibits, research, and outreach pertaining to the UM Libraries Caribbean collections. Her outreach activities include instruction in the use of Distinctive Collections primary source materials as well as the organizations of in house and online exhibits.
Ms. Skokan received her Master's in Library and Information Science from Florida State University and studied at the N.A.R.A. Modern Archives Institute while pursuing her graduate degree. She also holds an M.A. in International Studies and M.A. in French Literature from the University of Miami as well as a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from St. Thomas University.
Ms. Skokan is a member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), the Society of Florida Archivists, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association. Her research interests include the documentation of oral, immigrant and peripheral cultures.
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