Special Collections USP

A competition is held each spring within participating colleges for the University Scholars awards that includes a $1750 stipend. The program will consist of undertaking a full research project, under the guidance of a faculty member. The University Scholars Program serves as an exceptional capstone to the academic careers of UF students. Only 200 students from all disciplines are selected through a competitive process to participate in this program.

University Scholars in Special collections work under the mentorship of our curators to bring their own research and creative interests to the collections. Fellows conduct advanced research either for publication or to aid the ongoing work of the program in digital projects and exhibitions.

The information below highlights areas the student may wish to pursue their research.  However, it is not limited to this list and is only listed to provide an idea of the range of materials and approaches taken over the course of the fellowship.

To see more of what student researchers are doing in Special Collections, please visit the Storied Books project site at https://storiedbooks.domains.uflib.ufl.edu/Wordpress/

What Makes a Book? Books have been remade and reinvented by new technologies from the time that the codex replaced the scroll, but these changes have not been instant or seamless. Explore how the book has changed from the time of medieval manuscripts to digital journals, and how each change has brought about discussion of what a book ought to be.   

Cheap Print and Popular Knowledge: The Rare Book Collection has more than books. Much of what was read before the nineteenth century circulated in small pieces: single sheet songs and flyers, small pamphlets, magazines and newspapers. Those materials were likely never intended to survive, but they provide great perspective on everything from international politics to jokes, songs and games.

Words (and puzzles and pictures) with Friends: Emblems, Albums, and Letters. Before digital social networks people sent clever sayings, news, and pictures to each other the old fashioned way – by drawing them in books. Come see how these albums combine image, text, and create a community of readers.  

Preserving Nature: From ancient Greece and Rome to the present day, natural history books attempt to describe and depict the world and how it works. To do so in later periods required a trained eye, a well-stocked bookshelf, and a team of engravers and bookmakers. Our natural history collections preserve the rigor, adventure, and the wonder of human interactions with the natural world.