Books on the move: In preparation for the Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections renovation, materials in the Zilberman Center seminar rooms are moving. See our Service Alerts for details.

Fisher restoration: The Fisher Fine Arts Library Periodicals Reading Room is currently closed for restoration work. The rest of the library remains open and operating normally. Find more details about this restoration project.

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Upcoming Events: Kislak Center

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Jun 25
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Penitential Psalms in French

On June 25, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 1564, a copy of the Penitential Psalms in French, written in France in the 17th century.

  • June 25, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 12:30pm
  • Online
Photo of a page from a manuscript
Jul 02
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Treatise on Weight in Arabic

On July 2, curator Dot Porter will bring out LJS 386, substantial sections from an illustrated treatise on the measurement of weight, with a historical introduction to theories of gravity and weighing in Greek and Arabic science.

  • July 2, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 12:30pm
  • Online
Illustration of a diagram from an Arabic treatise
Sep 24 - 25
  • Symposium
Open to the Public

The Foucault Century

2026 marks the centennial of Michel Foucault’s birth and the 50-year anniversary of the publication of his landmark History of Sexuality, Vol. 1. This two-day symposium offers a renewed assessment of Foucault’s thought.

  • September 24 - 25, 2026
  • Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Artwork of Michel Foucault with irregular blue shapes in the background and scribbled colorful lines in the foreground
Nov 12 - 14
  • Symposium
Open to the Public

Stranger Things

This year’s topic interrogates the multi-angled intersections of magic, science, religion, and ritual in the pre- and early modern world, especially as manifested in manuscript books, documents, and other inscribed surfaces variously expressed in words, images, diagrams, and annotations.

  • November 12-14, 2026
  • Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts; Free Library of Philadelphia & Online
Circular diagram in red and blue ink with interlocking star-shaped patterns inscribed with text and symbols.

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