Elon Lang

Elon Lang is an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a variety of undergraduate literature survey courses on ethical topics, medieval and early modern studies, dramatic literature, and Experiential Learning courses based in archival research. One example was his 2020-2021 courses called Archival Advocacy in which students learned how to bring archival techniques to bear on a real-world social justice issue facing the East Austin, Texas, community: the closing of one of Austin's historically Hispanic elementary schools. This class built an online archive and website for this school's history in partnership with former staff and parents associated with the school (see https://metzelementary.omeka.net/). In the process, undergraduate students learned about the importance of amplifying the voices of communities that have often been neglected by civic institutions and the municipal government--while developing meaningful relationships with members of the affected community. Elon's other projects include a collaborative digital archive for editing the medieval English poet Thomas Hoccleve (https://hocclevearchive.org) and supervising a growing student-built website digitizing social justice themed collection materials from UT-Austin's campus archives (https://givingvoicetohiddenhistories.omeka.net/).