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Louisa Shepard
News Officer
lshepard@upenn.edu
Libraries
Better care for COVID patients through virtual reality
Better care for COVID patients through virtual reality
An interdisciplinary team from Penn joined efforts with physicians in New York to fast-track virtual reality coronavirus training materials.
Virtual cataloging for community school libraries
Virtual cataloging for community school libraries
Penn Libraries Outreach is now cataloging library inventory remotely using images from libraries across the Philadelphia School District.
Performing arts diversity in the (virtual) stacks
Performing arts diversity in the (virtual) stacks
Diversity in the Stacks aims to build library collections that represent and reflect the University’s diverse population, and extends to the field of digital performing arts.
Penn Libraries expands digital collections, online platforms, and expert support
Penn Libraries expands digital collections, online platforms, and expert support
To support the Penn community while working remotely, the Penn Libraries purchased 35,000 e-books, negotiated access to other digital collections, increased video streaming access, and tripled the number of librarians available to answer questions.
Understanding the Americas through material texts
Understanding the Americas through material texts
Penn and Princeton partner to create a now-virtual symposium to explore 38 objects, including books, journals, maps, musical scores, visual art, wampum, textiles, stone tablets, and various kinds of handwork.
A virtual celebration for National Poetry Month 2020
A virtual celebration for National Poetry Month 2020
For National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets has shared a list of 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month at Home or Online to encourage a collective recognition of the ways in which poetry enhances the world.
Five events to watch for in March
Five events to watch for in March
On the calendar for March: an orchestral performance at Penn Museum, the annual Silfen Forum, and a conversation about Philadelphia as a science capital.
Penn’s pioneering mathematicians
Penn’s pioneering mathematicians
Two of the first African Americans to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics, Dudley Weldon Woodard and William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor worked on fundamental problems in the field of topology and supported graduate-level math education for minority students.
A new way of thinking about motion, movement, and the concept of time
A new way of thinking about motion, movement, and the concept of time
Eadweard Muybridge’s “Animal Locomotion” was the first scientific study to use photography. Now, more than 130 years later, Muybridge’s work is seen as both an innovation in photography and the science of movement, alongside his personal legacy as someone with an eccentric 19th century style and a dark past.
Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
A major exhibition and symposium organized by two Penn graduate students highlighting African American women literature is open in the Penn Libraries’ Kamin Gallery.
Media Contact
In the News
The New York Times
The rise of the D.I.Y. Haggadah
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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WHYY (Philadelphia)
UPenn library acquires the papers of Ashley Bryan, a pioneering African American poet and artist known for children’s books
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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Philadelphia Inquirer
Walt Whitman bicentennial celebration kicks into high gear for his birthday
Lynne Farrington of the Kislak Center spoke about the significance of Walt Whitman to Philadelphia and the Libraries’ exhibition celebrating the poet’s life and accomplishments. “The relationship between Whitman and this region is close and fascinating,” she said. “It’s worthy of further exploration.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn Libraries and venerable Philadelphia Athenaeum form bookish alliance
The Libraries have entered a partnership with the Athenaeum, Philadelphia’s last remaining subscription library. “Our new library partnership with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia makes easily accessible the Athenaeum’s unmatched collection of historic architectural publications and other documentation for the study of this rich legacy,” said David Brownlee, a School of Arts and Sciences professor and an Athenaeum board member. Jon Shaw and Constantia Constantinou were also quoted.
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Forbes
What the Middle Ages can teach us about Star Wars’ ancient Jedi texts
The Schoenberg Institute was highlighted for its series of weekly videos in which the Libraries’ Dot Porter discusses parallels between fictional texts in the Star Wars universe and medieval manuscripts.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Hive mind: What’s in these Ed Bacon photos?
Hannah Bennett of the Libraries spoke about an unlabeled trove of photographs donated to Penn by urban planner Ed Bacon before his death in 2005. The photos are now being posted to Flickr to solicit public help identifying the locations depicted. “You don’t have to be a Bacon scholar – or a Bacon enthusiast – to enjoy these pictures,” said Bennett.
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