FALL 2025 EVENTS LIST

(Note: weekly events listed at the bottom)

Welcome Back Happy Hour! Tuesday September 2, 2025, 4:30-6:30, with announcements around 5pm, in College Hall 209. Inaugurate the semester with delight! We will indulge in snacks, refreshments and the company of our wonderful community.

[Symposium] Making the Medieval Archive: Celebrating Elizabeth A. R. Brown at Penn This day-long symposium will commemorate Elizabeth (Peggy) A. R. Brown’s extraordinary legacy in the field of Medieval Studies and will mark the official launch of the Elizabeth A. R. Brown Medieval Historians’ archive. September 12, 10:00am – 7:00pm, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts (Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania) & online, registration currently open (https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/making-medieval-archive)

[Workshop] Reimagining Illumination: Illuminated Manuscripts – with Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman, on the practice of illumination in premodern manuscripts with manuscripts from Penn’s collections on September 16, 2 – 3pm location at Kislak Center Vitale II (Room 623), Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 6th Floor. (rsvp: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/ri/reimagining-illumination)

[Conference] The Edges of Truth: Secrecy, Artifice, and the Limits of Knowledge brings together scholars across disciplines to explore how what we perceive as truth has been constructed, obscured, misunderstood, contested, and reimagined throughout history. Held on September 17-18 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Museum and Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, this two-day conference probes the fragile edges of truth – and the social and intellectual stakes of who gets to define, transform, or defend it. (Program: https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/edges-truth)   

[Meeting] Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Contemplating the Cosmos – manuscripts focused on cosmology, astronomy, and astrology. On September 17, 2-3pm in Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor (https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/manuscript-studies-interest)

[Talk] Prof. Zayde Antrim of Trinity College will be giving a lecture entitled “Body Doubles: Gender, Sexuality and the Medieval 1001 Nights” on Monday, September 22, at 5:30, location TBD. (https://mec.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/09/22/body-doubles-gender-sexuality-and-premodern-1001-nights)

[Discussion] Gender in the Archive: Views from Medieval France and Japan, a conversation between Sara McDougall (CUNY, History, Humanities and Justice, Gender Studies), David Spafford (Penn, EALC) and discussant Kathy Brown (Penn, History, GSWS) on September 25, in College Hall 209, 12-1pm.

[Seminar] Annenberg Seminar, Lorenzo Bondioli (Harvard), on the political economy of Islamic empires “Title TBA” on September 30 at12-1:30pm, College Hall 209. (https://live-sas-www-history.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/node/15871)

[Exhibit and talk] Reinventing Aristotle, opening of the exhibit “Reinventing Aristotle” (Goldstein Family Gallery, Van Pelt 6th floor), viewing of the exhibition with the curators (Eva Del Soldato, Lynne Farrington, and Hannah Marcus), remarks by Anthony Grafton, on  October 3 at 4:30-7:30pm, Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, sixth floor. RSVP here: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/reinventing-aristotle-between

[Meeting] Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Scientific Experimentation – manuscripts focused on alchemy and related early experimental sciences. On October 15, 2025, 2-3pm at Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor (https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/manuscript-studies-interest-0)

[Workshop] Reimagining Illumination: Make Your Own Illuminated Initial – with SIMS Curator for Digital Humanities Dot Porter and Program Coordinator of Technology and Play Christine Kemp, on October 21, 2-4pm at the Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor (rsvp: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/ri/reimagining-illumination-make)

[Workshop] Reimagining Illumination: Be Creative with Illuminated Manuscripts – with Program Coordinator of Technology and Play Christine Kemp and SIMS Curator for Digital Humanities Dot Porter, on November 11, 2-4pm at Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor (rsvp: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/ri/reimagining-illumination-be)

[Meeting] Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Receiving the Classics – in honor of the Schoenberg Symposium, focus on manuscripts containing copies, translations, and reinterpretations of classical literature and philosophy. On November 12, 2-3pm at Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor (https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/manuscript-studies-interest-1)

[Conference] Interpreting the Ancients, 18th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium for Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age, held on November 20–22, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts; Free Library of Philadelphia; and Online. Registrations opens September 1, 2025. (https://www.library.upenn.edu/sims)

[Talk] Prof. Lamia Balafrej (History of Art, UCLA) will be coming to the HSS Department on November 24, 3.30pm to give a talk on “The Politics of Automata in Medieval Islam” (https://hss.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/11/24/hss-workshop-lamia-balafrej)

[Meeting] Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Manuscripts as Data –  focus on manuscripts as data, including digitization and using digitized manuscripts as text and as images. On December 3, 2-3pm at Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor (https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/manuscript-studies-interest-2)

WEEKLY EVENTS

[Weekly] The Workshop in the History of Material Texts takes place every Monday at 5:15, in the Class of 1978 Pavilion, Kislak Center, 6th floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. You can consult the schedule at: https://pennmaterialtexts.org/about/events/ 

Every Thursday at 12pm for Coffee with a Codex, via Zoom; registration required (https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/coffee-codex). Dot Porter warmly welcomes guests hosts – students who want to talk about manuscripts, do get in touch with her! (dorp@pobox.upenn.edu).