Events at the Kislak Center

Jul 24

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: On calculation with integers and fractions

For Coffee With A Codex on July 24, Curator Dot Porter will bring out a copy of the text On calculation with integers and fractions, written in Baghdad in A.H. 590 (1194).

• July 24, 2025
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Jul 31

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Astronomical Texts (Two fragments from the same original manuscript)

For Coffee With A Codex on July 31, Curator Dot Porter will bring out two fragments of a number of astronomical texts in Middle English, written in England circa 1496.

• July 31, 2025
• 12:00pm - 12:30pm
• Online

Sep 12

• Symposium

Open to the Public

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, 2025
• 10:00am - 7:00pm
• Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts & Online

Sep 16

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Reimagining Illumination: Illuminated Manuscripts

On Tuesday, September 16, Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman will talk about the practice of illumination in premodern manuscripts, showing us a variety of manuscripts from Penn's collections.

• September 16, 2025
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Sep 17

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Contemplating the Cosmos

The theme for September is Contemplating the Cosmos and will include manuscripts focused on cosmology, astronomy, and astrology.

• September 17, 2025
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Sep 19

• Lecture

Open to the Public

Pages of Stars: Case Studies in the History of the Astral Sciences from the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection

Michael Zellman-Rohrer offers a progress report on a larger project to place manuscripts on the astral sciences (astronomy and astrology) from Europe and the wider Mediterranean world in social context and to bring these products of premodern science and their producers and users, in the fullness of their languages and faiths, into dialogue with social history and the history of science.

• Friday, September 19, 2025, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT
• 12:00pm - 1:30pm
• Virtual

Oct 15

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Scientific Experimentation

The theme for October is Scientific Experimentation and will include manuscripts focused on alchemy and related early experimental sciences.

• October 15, 2025
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Oct 21

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Reimagining Illumination: Make Your Own Illuminated Initial

On Tuesday, October 21, 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.

• October 21, 2025
• 2:00pm - 4:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor

Nov 11

• Workshop

Open to the Public

Reimagining Illumination: Be Creative with Illuminated Manuscripts

On Tuesday, November 11, Program Coordinator of Technology and Play Christine Kemp and SIMS Curator for Digital Humanities Dot Porter and will lead a workshop where we will investigate the playfulness of manuscript illumination through hands-on making, including stickers, buttons, and plushies.

• November 11, 2025
• 2:00pm - 4:00pm
• Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor