Series consists of materials created by Nouwen for use in his capacity as a professor and instructor. These materials include notes for lectures, reading notes, class lists, handouts for students, class schedules, course evaluations, audio recordings of lectures, and records related to the administration of courses.

Sub-series consists of bound volumes of materials and loose documents created and used by Nouwen for his teaching positions various academic institutions in both North America and Europe. This includes reading notes, preparation notes, lecture notes, typed lecture summaries, course handouts and syllabi, many of which are heavily annotated by Nouwen. It also includes lectures, letters, notes, assignments and course evaluations produced by Nouwen's students and teaching assistants. In addition to the course-specific bound volumes, there are two bound volumes that are labelled as "miscellaneous class material" that relate to Nouwen's early career from 1959 to 1976.

Fonds consists of 15 series:

1. Manuscripts
2. General files
3. Calendar files
4. Personal records
5. Publisher files
6. Financial files
7. Teaching materials
8. Nouwen’s education records and study notes
9. Published works
10. Video recordings of Nouwen
11. Sound recordings
12. Collected materials
13. L'Arche Daybreak administrative files
14. Ephemera and artifacts
15. Photographs