National Collegiate Honors Council

 

Date of this Version

2022

Citation

Honors in Practice, 2022, Vol. 18: 65–80

Comments

© Copyright 2022 by the National Collegiate Honors Council

Abstract

Community is a foundational element in honors education. During the global pandemic, students reimagined ways to connect in order to build community and serve one another. Authors describe a virtual collaboration in transcription, where honors students gathered to participate in digital transcribe-a-thons. These informal groupings evolved into a transcribing club that met three times a week (collectively logging more than 1,600 hours) and transcribed over 16,000 historical documents. A study of participating transcribers reveals enhanced historical knowledge, skill building, and opportunities for relationships with students of varying interests and backgrounds despite edicts for social distancing. While a common feature of the club is a connection to something beyond the student, authors maintain that the experience of transcribing also brings a sense of connectedness with fellow honors students and the honors college. Authors provide student insight and outcomes as well as detailed instructions for honors practitioners seeking to introduce historical transcription to their students.

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