Archival Journeys
Ryken Farr is a senior majoring in history, with minors in Jewish studies, German, and museum & curatorial studies. Ryken is currently the student archivist with the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries. He will be pursuing a master’s degree in library & information science starting in fall 2026.
Q: Tell us about your academic pursuits outside of the classroom.
A: In addition to taking informative classes through the history department, I have been able to pursue extra-curricular opportunities in the department to tune my studies towards my specific degree interests, as well as my future graduate goals. While these experiences are not needed to get a lot out of your degree in history, as a history nerd — and someone who hopes to work in history academia as a career — these early steps have helped show me what some of those experiences could look like.
Q: How did you get involved with conducting research as an undergraduate?
A: My earliest experience came as a freshman, and it involved conducting historical research outside of the classroom, with the help of an Undergraduate Research Scholarship (URS) from the Office of Undergraduate Research. While this opportunity was made possible outside of the history department, I was able to begin working in-depth with history faculty during this mentor-involved project. In fact, the connection I built with my URS mentor, Dr. Sheer Ganor, has continued to grow throughout my undergraduate years, with Dr. Ganor now serving as my honors thesis advisor.
Q: The URS seems to have been a generative catalyst for you regarding working with faculty. Can you share what other ways it has assisted you?
A: In addition to helping me build connections within the department, this URS also funded travel to Washington, DC, and New York City to get my first taste of on-site archival research. This was incredibly valuable to have so early on as an undergrad because it showed me what upper-level history work required, as well as how I could start implementing key skills in my classes. As a part of the project, I was required to complete a major research paper. While my 30 pages at the time needed a good amount of work, the real win was realizing that I could write such a large essay in the first place. Additionally, I became so interested in the topic I chose that it stuck with me, and deeply influenced not only my honors thesis, but other essays as well. Finally, this project called for a public presentation, which gave me my first experience presenting my research to an audience, and holding up to a faculty question-and-answer session.
Q: What came next?
A: In my junior year, I knew I had to apply for the Donovan scholarship. While David Perry, associate director for undergraduate studies, can provide interested students with more details, the scholarship offers funding to history students who want to complete on-site archival work ahead of their senior thesis. This would be a great next step, allowing me to build on the work I completed during my URS. While the Donovan is not a mentor-involved project, Dr. Ganor was willing to give me some feedback along the way, which really helped with my project proposal. I was awarded the scholarship and immediately got to work making appointments to visit archives in Germany, where I was studying abroad at the time. It was great to experience such a diverse array of museums and archives as a part of my project.
Q: In addition to archival research, what other opportunities did you have studying abroad in Germany?
A: Because my research focused on Jewish refugees in Germany after the Holocaust, I interspersed trips to historic sites, along with visits to relevant archives. The site visits were arguably the most impactful element of my Donovan work. While the sources I gathered at the archives have proved very useful, being on the ground in places I had only read about in books brought a whole new level of understanding to my research — everything felt more real. Additionally, the Donovan funding allowed me to travel back to New York City, where, in addition to completing more archival work, I was able to visit museums and college campuses, including NYU, whose library science program I hope to be admitted to this upcoming fall.
Q: What is your advice for history majors and minors who might be hesitant to pursue these types of extracurricular scholarships and opportunities?
A: My biggest takeaway from my time as a history major is the way these experiences helped me figure out the track I wanted to take as an undergraduate. They helped make my general interests, which I discovered in my classes, to a new level of specificity and concentration. Beyond the academic and professional benefits of finding my niche early, it meant that I got to nerd out even more over what truly sparked my interest in history, instead of discovering it in my last semester. I would encourage any interested history major or minor to pursue as many of these opportunities as they can: yes, they look good on a resume, and they help you truly find what excites you most about history.
