Events at the Kislak Center

Feb 13

• Lecture

Open to the Public

The Colker Hebrew Fragments: Description and Significance 

This talk will demonstrate some of the important and unusual aspects of a collection of mostly medieval Judaic manuscripts, acquired from the private collection of manuscript bibliographer Marvin Colker.

• February 13, 2026
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm
• Virtual (link will be sent to registrants)

Feb 17

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Reimagining Illumination: Make Your Own Illuminated Initial

On Tuesday, February 17, SIMS Curator for Digital Humanities Dot Porter and Program Coordinator of Technology and Play Christine Kemp will lead a workshop where we will make our own illuminated initials on parchment using gold leaf and paint.

• February 17, 2026
• 2:00pm - 4:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Feb 18

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Fragments

The Manuscript Studies Interest Group (MSIG) is a regular meeting for people who want to get up close and personal with a variety of handwritten objects.

• February 18, 2026
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Feb 19

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: New Testament in Middle English

On February 19, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 201, a copy of the New Testament translated into Middle English by John Wycliffe.

• February 19, 2026
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Feb 24

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Reimagining Illumination: Make Your Own Paper Circuit

On Tuesday, February 24th, Emily Brooks will lead us in creating our own mini holographic light-up constellation shadow boxes based on artwork from a Netherlandish astronomy book from Penn's collection.

• February 24, 2026
• 2:00pm - 4:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Feb 25

• Workshop

Open to Penn Students, Faculty, and Staff

Exploring Handwritten Text Recognition for Manuscript Studies with 2025-2026 SIMS Fellows

This discussion, presented to MedRen and Global Medieval and Renaissance Studies, will introduce the work of two 2025-2026 Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS) Graduate Student Fellows, Ellie Webb and Priya Nambrath, who have been spending this year exploring Handwritten Text Recognition technologies for use on a variety of historic and archival documents.

• February 25, 2026
• 3:00pm - 5:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Feb 26

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Ethiopian Manuscripts

On February 26, curator Dot Porter will bring out a selection of manuscripts from Ethiopia.

• February 26, 2026
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Feb 26

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Exhibition Opening: The Time to Right all Wrongs

Opening of the exhibition The Time to Right All Wrongs: France, Haiti, and Philadelphia in a Revolutionary Age. Exhibition tour (5:00pm) will followed by remarks by Penn faculty Roger Chartier and Yvonne Fabella (5:30pm).

• February 26, 2026
• 5:00pm - 7:30pm
• Kislak Center Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center

Mar 03

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Bookbinding Workshop: LJS 419 and Parchment Bindings

A workshop to make our own versions of MS LJS 419, a 15th century herbal from Penn's collection.

• March 3, 2026
• 5:00pm - 7:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor