Undergraduate Learning Engagements with the Quilt Index BDQHP | AAAS 100 & TE 430
Throughout the academic year many educators plan generative opportunities for exploring their course objectives through experiences with Quilt Index staff and resources, including our expansive physical collection of quilts and quilt related-ephemera. During the 2022-2023 academic year, three instructors at Michigan State University co-planned and facilitated engagements with the Quilt Index for their undergraduate classes. Descriptions of their courses and learning engagements with Quilt Index resources and staff are listed below.

Exploring Pathways & Connections with African American & African Studies (AAAS)
Dr. Yvonne Morris co-planned and facilitated an engagement with the Quilt Index for her African American and African Studies (AAAS) class, “AAAS 100: Pathways to African American and African Studies.” A description of the course and learning engagements with the Quilt Index can be seen below.

AAAS 100: Pathways to African American and African Studies Course Description:
This three-credit course will cover current trends and topics in African American and African Studies.  AAAS 100 uses pathways from the Diaspora to Detroit and students’ lived experiences to explore the Black experience. Various entry points to explore pathways include Black oral traditions, music, politics, art, migrations, Afro-Latinx histories, and culture.  In addition, this course allows for students with both nascent and developed interest in Black studies to delve deeper into their intellectual passions.” https://aaas.msu.edu/undergraduate/academics/aaas-course-offerings/

As a means of exploring pathways of Black people and culture via the diaspora, the class was guided through two hands-on engagements with curated collections of artifacts from the Quilt Index archive: 1) a collection of 10 quilts made by Black quiltmakers throughout the diaspora, as well as 2) a selection of quilt-related artifacts from the archive of world-renowned quilt scholar, Cuesta Benberry.

During the hands-on engagement with physical quilts in the archive, students learned popular quilt terminology, and were talked through a variety of quilt styles and construction techniques. Included in the curated collection of physical quilts were multiple textile pieces made by local quiltmakers in Michigan. The collection also featured quilts made by quiltmakers in other regions of the U.S., Haiti, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Africa. Throughout the class’s engagements with quilts, reflection questions were used to guide students through articulating their conceptualizations of what quilting is, who quilts, and the speculative significance of quilts within the lived realities of the quilt makers themselves. Students were similarly guided to ask and answer questions rooted in curiosity and wonder, as a means of exploring and imagining realities informed by Black quiltmakers’s material culture and quiltmaking methodologies.
  The learning activities designed for engaging the collection of artifacts from Cuesta Benberry’s archive were centered around utilizing and developing visual communication skills, via the use of multiple close readings. In conjunction with this, reflection questions were included to generate deep thinking and dialogue about individual pieces in the archival collection as well as prompt critical inquiry of archival praxis. Examples of the reflection questions include, “Whose history and/or stories are embodied within the archival documents we explored? Who is excluded?” As well as, “Why is it important to know and/or share these stories?” Learners were similarly guided through considering the implications of these artifacts within their current lived realities, and the ways these artifacts might inform how they think about and engage with one another and the natural world, both now and in the future. Reflection from Course Instructor, Dr. Yvonne Morris:
It was a treat to be able to collaborate with the Quilt Index for my class, AAAS 100: Pathways to African American and African Studies Course Description. I appreciated how students were able to learn about the archival process and the significance of quilting for Black folks not just within the United States but throughout the Diaspora and also locally in Michigan, which aligned perfectly with the objective of the course. This was the first time for most students to actually mirror and engage with the archival process of exploring materials, ruminate on the prompted questions, and make initial observations of what information they could glean from Benberry’s archive. Some thoughts and curiosities that students noted while exploring Benberry’s archive included the social identities of quilters (e.g., race and age), mindfulness of the historical context of quilts, catalogs, etc., how quilters shared resources and knowledge with each other, and the stories told via the quilts, which prompted several students to further search the history on specific quilts and quilters on the Internet. I treasured how students reflected on their own family histories and legacies, the emotions it evoked, recalling memories of engaging with quilts in their home as well as feeling inspired to either make their own quilts or start archiving their family history.

Teaching and Learning in the Classroom with the Arts
During the Spring semester of the 2023 academic year, Dr. Karenanna Boyle Creps and Darshana Devarajan co-planned and facilitated engagements with the Quilt Index for their respective classes of the College of Education course “TE 430: Introduction to Arts in the Classroom.” A description of the course and their learning engagements with the Quilt Index can be seen below.

TE 430 Introduction to Arts in the Classroom Course Description:
Open to undergraduate students in the College of Education, this course offers an introduction to the power of teaching and learning through the arts. In this course, learners explore how performing and visual arts can reach multiple learning styles and nurture the creative process of children through its innate variety of educational methods and expressions.

As a means of exploring the embodied knowledge of quilting within Black diasporic communities and connections to teaching and learning, each TE430 class was guided through hands-on engagements with a curated collection of 10 quilts made by Black quiltmakers throughout the diaspora. During the hands-on engagement with physical quilts in the archive, students learned popular quilt terminology, and were talked through a variety of quilt styles and construction techniques. The class explored many topics, including the background information and stories shared by the makers of the collection of quilts, the history and practice of quilting bees within the African American community, as well as ideas for engaging themes and ideas from our conversation within other contexts of teaching and learning.

Reflection from Course Instructor, Dr. Karenanna Boyle Creps:
Introduction to Arts in the Classroom visited the Quilt Index during SS23 with Dr. Liv Furman. During the engagement with quilts each student was given a pair of nitrile gloves to safely engage with the textile materials. Liv began the encounter with a gentle centering practice, establishing an atmosphere of mutual respect and kindness prior to discussing the quilts. We were then introduced to a collection of quilted works of art that also served as historical records of the lives, families, and histories of the people who created them. The more they spoke, the more engrossed and curious my students became. Dr. Furman did a fantastic job of scaffolding student learning from one quilt to prepare students for interpreting and appreciating the next. Students were welcomed to touch the quilts with gloved hands and share their interpretations of the many layers of story and representation each quilt contained. By the end of our time at the Quilt Index, it was clear that the class would have enjoyed spending a much longer time with the quilts. They left having learned that quilting is a form of knowledge production imbued with (in this case) the cultural history of Black communities throughout the diaspora. I can't wait to more fully incorporate the Quilt Index into future iterations of this course.

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