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Teaching and learning

The Archives and Special Collections are a rich and valuable resource for Brunel staff and students. 

As well as documenting the history of Brunel University and its predecessor colleges, the Archives are also of local, national and international importance regarding the

  • History of education
  • History of teacher training

Other subject matters that our records touch upon are anti-slavery, missionaries, 19th century non-conformists and philanthropy, 19th century female emancipation, the British Empire, colonialism, and the birth of nations such as Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

Our Special Collections cover a wide variety of subjects, with particular strengths in transport history and the Channel Tunnel, working class autobiographies, poetry and Shakespeare.  We also hold runs of nineteenth and twentieth century periodicals, including Ladies Homes Journal, All Year Round, Illustrated London News and London Mercury which provide a fascinating source of articles, advertising and printing history.

Our students

We provide 1 to 1 support for Brunel students wishing to use the archives and special collections as part of their study/research.   This includes explaining the material we hold and what may be relevant to their study/research, how to use and search our online catalogue, handling fragile material, learning how to reference archive sources, and helping develop research and palaeography skills.

Please contact Arc-SC@brunel.ac.uk for further details and to make an appointment

Our academic colleagues

We offer teaching sessions with our academic colleagues to support academic learning through the engagement with primary sources within a timetabled session.

The sessions normally include a general introduction and overview of our work, the archives and special collections we hold, and specific-tailored activities using relevant archival and special collection material.

Please take a look at our online catalogue

Please contact Arc-SC@brunel.ac.uk for further information