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Louisa Shepard
Senior News Officer
lshepard@upenn.edu
The medieval English epic poem “Beowulf” is brought to life in a musical performance by Benjamin Bagby and academic discussion through a partnership among the Penn Live Arts, the Libraries, and the School of Arts & Sciences.
The Penn Libraries’ Education Commons and Vitale Digital Media Lab facilitate and support play through planned activities and in response to student requests, with an ultimate goal to benefit student wellness.
The historic partnership provides the public access to nearly 175 years of Philadelphia’s rich musical history.
The Commons serves as a collaborative resource for researchers in the health sciences, providing the latest tools and technologies to further health care research and equality.
The recently launched At-Risk Scholars Program has enabled two people—an art historian and economist—to escape persecution and danger with a period of residence at the University.
The inauguration ceremony for Penn’s ninth president Liz Magill on Oct. 21 will incorporate decades-long traditions and centuries-old University symbols.
Artist-in-residence Katie Baldwin is printing a book she wrote and illustrated, inspired by a 400-plus-year-old volume in the Penn Libraries collection, sponsored by a residency with the Philadelphia Center for the Book.
The Penn Libraries curator describes the formulas and structural information used to redraft and visualize rare books in a virtual space.
Caroline Fearey Schimmel has spent 50 years as a book collector and bibliographer on women in the American wilderness whose contributions went unrecognized, both as creators of fictional and artistic works and as history makers.
Rebecca Mendelson is wrapping up her first academic year in person in her new role managing the Libraries’ Japanese and Korean Collections.
Louisa Shepard
Senior News Officer
lshepard@upenn.edu
Penn Libraries has acquired the archives of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Academy of Music, with remarks from President Liz Magill and Constantia Constantinou of Penn Libraries.
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Vice Provost Constantia Constantinou of Penn Libraries describes how Penn is equipped and staffed to give the Philadelphia Orchestra's archive the attention it deserves.
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The Philadelphia Orchestra has donated almost its entire archive, as well as that of the Academy of Music, to Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, with quotes from the center’s director, Sean M. Quimby.
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Andrea Nuñez and April James of the Libraries spoke about the newly digitized Marian Anderson collection housed in Penn’s Libraries. “I hope students gain a newfound respect for the challenging realities of Marian Anderson’s career,” said James. “Like countless other Black artists and writers of her time, she negotiated segregation at home and freedom abroad. Music allowed her to transcend these barriers and help her audiences see the possibility of a more inclusive future.”
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Arthur Kiron of the Libraries spoke about the popularity of the Haggadah, a Jewish prayer book for Passover. “It has such a powerful hold on the imagination because it tells a story of freedom through slavery,” he said. The Libraries’ Judaica collection is host to a collection of 1,800 volumes of the books.
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Lynne Farrington of the Libraries spoke about the acquisition of the Ashley Brian papers, which trace the author and illustrator’s 60-year publishing history. “He sees art as his salvation, as a way to deal with what’s happening in this country,” said Farrington.
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