In this seminar, we read critical theoretical, methodological, and historiographical work on the construction, production, and use of archives. Some of the questions we consider are: How does power shape the archives with which we work? How should scholars approach the silences and distortions built into the archives, particularly historians of religion, race, gender, and sexuality? What constitutes an archive? What are the possibilities and pitfalls of alternative and non-traditional archives? How do we as embodied actors shape the archives with which we engage--as historians, critical scholars, participants, and curators?