Upcoming Events: Kislak Center

Feb 18

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Curating the Ordinary: A Collector’s Philosophy on Finding Meaning in Ephemera

David Toccafondi explores the unique power of ephemera — everyday disposable paper items often overlooked but rich in cultural significance.

• February 18, 2025
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm
• Virtual (link will be sent to registrants)

Feb 18

• Lecture

Open to the Public

The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies & the Herbert D. Katz Center Distinguished Fellow's Lecture in Jewish Manuscript Studies

Sacha Stern, University College London, & the 2024-2025 Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies & the Herbert D. Katz Center Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Manuscript Studies.

• Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 5:15 - 7:00 pm EST
• 5:15pm - 7:00pm
• Class of 1978 Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 6th floor, & Virtual

Feb 20

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Arabic Medical Manuscript

On February 20, curator Dot Porter will bring out LJS 446, sections from Book I of Avicenna's medical encyclopedia القانون في الطب (al-Qānūn fī al-ṭibb).

• February 20, 2025
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Feb 25

Open to the Public

Exploring Epidemics in Philadelphia: Yellow Fever and COVID 

In conjunction with the National Library of Medicine travelling exhibition Politics of Yellow Fever in Alexander Hamilton’s America, this panel brings historians and physicians together to explore and discuss two important epidemics in Philadelphia.

• February 25, 2025
• 5:00pm - 7:00pm
• Kislak Center Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center

Feb 27

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Commentary on the Song of Solomon

For Coffee With a Codex on February 27, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 1329, a 13th-century copy of Haimo's 9th-century commentary on the Song of Solomon.

• February 27, 2025
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Feb 28

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Computational Analysis of Visual Features from Digitized Manuscripts

Dr. rer. nat. Hussein Adnan Mohammed, head of the Visual Manuscript Analysis Lab at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg, delves into key challenges encountered in the journey to integrate of novel machine learning and AI methodologies to streamline and enhance the efficiency of manuscript research.

• Friday, February 28, 2025, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EST
• 12:00pm - 1:30pm
• Virtual

Mar 20 - 21

• Symposium

Open to the Public

The Scopes Trial at 100: Secularism, Race, and Education

This symposium will feature some of the most cutting-edge scholars linking the Scopes Trial to our present moment one hundred years later.

• March 20 - 21, 2025
• Hybrid event: Kislak Center Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor, and Virtual

Mar 24 - 27

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Indigenous Ecologies of the Page: Bibliography, Birchbark, and Remediation

In this series of three lectures, Kelly Wisecup examines how Indigenous peoples made and used the page to address structures of dispossession.

• March 24 - 27, 2025
• Hybrid event: Class of 78 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, 6th Floor; and virtual (via Zoom)

Mar 28

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Indigenous Voices in the Archives: Surveying Native Collections in the Kislak Center

Drawing on lessons learned from collaborating with Native American and First Nations peoples, in-resident researcher Emily Jean Leischner will share stories and snippets from her initial survey of Indigenous knowledge in the Kislak Center archives.

• March 28, 2025
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm
• Virtual (link will be sent to registrants)