Students in Professor Flagg Miller's 2008 Davis Honors Challenge class, Fundamentalism Religious Studies 3E Honors Section, used scarce primary publications to enhance their research projects. The rare primary resources, found in UC Davis' Special Collections, gave students an opportunity to read original and sometimes radical pamphlets, books, and newsletters. Danielle Pedersen, a student from the class, commented,

"We did not just read textbooks, but the actual publications and works themselves, making it more interesting. It allowed us to be the ones doing the interpretation."

The group of twelve University Honors Challenge students took the class in coordination with a larger class on Fundamentalism. The Honors Program asked students to take initiative and be creative thinkers. The Fundamentalism class reviewed the global and comparative study of fundamentalism in religion. The focus was to be the historical origins, basic texts, cultural contexts of fundamentalist strains of Christianity and Islam, with additional attention to Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The students were to review textual interpretations and consider how this related to colonialism, nationalism, media, gender, and terrorism.

The students then kept a journal summarizing their readings and reflected on how the works related to information gained in the class. The students' journals showed a maturity and understanding in tackling the readings and understanding the historical context as it related to fundamentalism. Kim Bui noted that the

"Special Collections assignment correlated very well with the Religious Studies class because we learned how Fundamentalists interpreted the Bible. They read the Bible and found scripture to help back up their predictions of why the world is the way it is… "

Student Kim Bui read Grant R. Jeffrey's Final Warning, Economic Collapse and the Coming World Government. The book was particularly interesting to her due to the current economic situation. Bui noted,

"In Dispensationalism, the authors read the Bible strictly for prophecies. They believed that events happening in present time are hints to the end times and that the Bible has predicted the outcome of the future. The author predicts that an economic collapse in nations will lead to one world government and later to the end of the world."

Student Danielle Pedersen read Is the U.S.A. in Prophecy? by S. Franklin Logsdon. She noted that

"Logsdon was more moderate. He compared the US to the "historical Babylon." The book was written in 1968 during the Cold War and the author described Khrushchev statement that "We will bury you." Logsdon saw this as an example signaling the bible's prophecies that the end is coming."

Professor Flagg Miller remarked that

"The materials in the collection offer students and researchers a fascinating glimpse into the social desires and phobias of fringe religious movements in the United States and especially in California. Many of the books, pamphlets, newsletters, audio and videotapes feature white supremacist and anti-Semitic themes that still surface today, although set within over a century of American history that is all too often forgotten. Who would have guessed, for example, that Christian fundamentalist writers found the Egyptian pyramids fascinating because they were allegedly built by Anglo-Saxon Israelites who used architectural puzzles to communicate secret messages about the Apocalypse to generations of their kin over three millennia later?"

Professor Miller's own research centers on Islamic thought and led to his interests in organizing a smaller discussion group to help students understand fundamentalism. He stated,

"My own work has long focused on Islamic thought and ethics. Although my real passion is poetry and song in Yemen, I have been conducting research in recent years on a set of audiotapes formerly owned by Osama Bin Laden. Thinking and writing about Bin Laden and his associates is always an uncomfortable process for me, since I witness him twisting the most beautiful and ethical sentiments of Islam toward a violent and demonizing world view. Teaching students about Bin Laden's distortions is an especially delicate task, since Islam's much broader traditions of community building, peace and compassion are far more representative of Muslims' experiences through history. In light of my work and teaching goals, I thought: Why not take a similar approach to the faith most familiar to us? Why not examine the extremist and sometimes militant perspectives of Christianity in American and even Northern California? The Davis Honors Challenge class provided my students and me with an incredible opportunity to think about the value of a comparative approach to studies of violence and religion. Giving a sense of proportionality to violence in one religious context could provide just the kind of lesson that is needed to restore proportionality in another."

The class met with Rare Book Librarian John Sherlock for a tour and exhibit of some of the resources found in Special Collections. A bibliography for the class was provided in order to lead the student to follow up readings. Students especially noticed the many California examples. Student Danielle Pedersen stated,

"At the tour we saw some really radical and interesting pieces. It was definitely eye-opening and a little nerve racking."

John Sherlock explained that the Department of Special Collections has sought to support research on many of the major political and social issues and conflicts of the twentieth century by collecting the often fugitive literature of protest, dissent, and rebellion. As part of this broader mission, the Department has also made an attempt to document the development of the American Far Right, including the published record of a number of groups on the extremes of political, social, cultural and religious discourse. Taken as a whole, the collection is one of only a few such collections in the country, and offers a rare window into the world of political, cultural and religious extremism in America. It is important to remember that political and religious extremism has had a significant impact on American history from the days of the Salem witch trials to the years of Klan lynchings, to the more recent bombings of the Oklahoma City Federal Building and the destruction of the World Trade Towers, with its resultant killing of thousands of innocent people. In order for students and scholars to understand these darker chapters in human history it is necessary for them to have access to the works and words that have inspired some of these actions. It is for this purpose that Special Collections developed the Political Book & Pamphlet Collections as well as adding unique items on these topics to our rare book collection.

Student Kim Bui, a sophomore, commented,

"After coming and seeing all the different works from Special Collections, I realized that there are so many subcultures of Fundamentalism. Fundamentalists from all over the United States, and to my surprise San Diego, have a different focus or lens when reading the Bible. The books and pamphlets that were on display when we came in were separated into different topics… Then there were books on race and religion. I was interested in books on Dispensationalism and Armageddon."

Department Head Daryl Morrison noted that many libraries do not catalog ephemeral materials, while the cataloging departments of the General Library, University of California, Davis has done a major job in cataloging these unique, scarce materials. Special Collections receives requests daily from all over the United States asking for the cataloged items found in our Radical Politics and other pamphlet collections. There is, however, still more cataloging work to be done.

Professor Miller was quite appreciative that Special Collections made both cataloged and uncataloged materials available to the students. He stated,

"All of us felt deeply indebted to the generosity of John Sherlock and the Special Collections staff in helping us navigate through the material."

Students commented positively that they would return to Special Collections and that they were interested in doing original research. Danielle Pedersen stated,

"I have respect for Special Collections and being able to access this type of materials."

Kim Bui also commented,

"I liked the Special Collection section of the library because they have rare books that would not be accessible anywhere else. They have information that is really different because they are not produced by large publication firms, such as textbooks. I believe that the Special Collections can help enrich many classes here at UC Davis and help open a broader view of information towards any specific subject (not just Fundamentalism). I will definitely use Special Collections throughout my other studies here at UC Davis."

During the fall quarter, in addition to Professor Miller's Honor Challenge class, these collections were also used by history classes studying conspiracy theories in twentieth century America, white supremacist movements, anti-Semitism, holocaust denial, and racism.

Special Collections is strong in the humanities and social sciences as well as Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Viticulture and Enology, and Food Science. The department is open Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the staff particularly tries to serve undergraduate students interested in doing research. Faculty are welcome to contact Special Collections to explore topics that will support their classes and to arrange tours.

For further information see the Special Collections website (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/specol/) or contact Ms. Daryl Morrison, Head of Special Collections at dmorrison@ucdavis.edu