Upcoming Events: Kislak Center

Dec 02

• Lecture

Open to the Public

A Book That Got Around: The Many Contexts of "Aristotle’s Masterpiece"

In this talk, guest speaker Mary Fissell will use the inscriptions in the Penn copy of the 1684 edition of Aristotle’s Masterpiece to explore the material contexts of the book’s uses.

• December 2, 2025
• 5:30pm - 7:00pm
• Hybrid: Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, sixth floor; and on Zoom

Dec 03

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Manuscripts as Data

On December 3, we'll look outside of the box and talk about manuscripts as data, including digitization and using digitized manuscripts as text and as images.

• December 3, 2025
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Dec 04

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Illustrated Manuscript in Sanskrit

For Coffee With A Codex on December 4, South Asian Studies Librarian Jef Pierce will bring out Ms. Coll. 390 Item 3020, a manuscript that contains the legend of Kālaka, important to the Śvetāmbara Jains and read during the first night of the Paryuṣaṇā.

• December 4, 2025
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Dec 04

• Book Talk

Open to the Public

Penn Press Book Launch: "Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century"

Join us to celebrate the launch of this landmark, multi-volume project presenting an up-to-date, diverse history of Philadelphia across its many dimensions.

• December 4, 2025
• 5:30pm - 7:00pm
• Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, sixth floor

Dec 05

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Collecting Penn Memorabilia for the University Archives

Penn alumna Susan Molofsky Todres provides a glimpse into student life and interests through the memorabilia collections of the University Archives.

• December 5, 2025
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm
• Virtual (link will be sent to registrants)

Dec 05

• Lecture

Open to the Public

The Guide to Goodness: An Islamic Medieval Bestseller, Copies at Penn, and Their Contexts

Ali Noori explores manuscript copies housed in Penn Libraries' collections of a 15th-century Islamic devotional manual Dalail al-Khayrat (The Guide to Goodness), composed by the North African Sufi mystic al-Jazuli (d. 1465) and considers the parallels between this Islamic bestseller and the roughly contemporary medieval European bestseller, the Book of Hours.

• Friday, December 5, 2025, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EST
• 12:00pm - 1:30pm
• Virtual

Dec 09

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Origami Star Book Workshop

Welcome the holidays by making your own origami star book!

• December 9, 2025
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Dec 09

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Origami Star Book Workshop

Welcome the holidays by making your own origami star book!

• December 9, 2025
• 3:30pm - 4:30pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Dec 10

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Fun With Medieval Manuscripts

Come by the Vitale II Book+Digital Lab (623 Van Pelt Library) on Wednesday, December 10, between 2 and 4pm for FUN WITH MANUSCRIPTS. You'll color your own decorative medieval illustration and make it into a button.

• December 10, 2025
• 2:00pm - 4:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor