A confluence of issues, including increased interest in library and information science education in the areas of archives & special collections, a continued lack of diversity in the profession, and the need for more students from Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) to pursue librarianship, inspired this project. Through the BRE grant, we strive to increase radical empathy and related skills to ensure that archives more accurately communicate the cultural context of communities represented within the archives as well as impacting future scholarly research created by them.

Two two-day immersive fora (one in person in 2023, and another online in 2025), convened a group of professionals from archives, special collections, LIS, HBCUs, recruitment, advising, internship placement, and curriculum design. The purpose of the 

fora was to solicit feedback and assess educational needs that will be incorporated into the development of a special collections and archival curriculum, toolkit, and an online course and workbook based on the curriculum. 

BRE aims to ready these archive professionals to apply radical empathy to archives and special collections that more accurately inform the future of social justice movements around the world and elevate the role of archivists and special collections librarians in these movements.