“The Invention of World Religions” | an Evening with Prof. Tomoko Masuzawa

  Where does the phrase “world religions” come from? Nearly 20 years ago, Prof. Tomoko Masuzawa’s book The Invention of World Religions (U. Chicago Press, 2005) set out to trace the trajectory of the concept in modern religious studies and comparative theology to its late-19th and early-20th century roots. Ever since, the book has played […]

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Manuscript 49: From Agnietenberg to Zwolle, a Journey Through Time and Technology

  Last semester, I had the privilege of participating in the interdisciplinary seminar “Introduction to Medieval Manuscripts,” led by Emily Runde and a team of experts including Susan Boynton, Christopher Baswell, Alexis Hagedorn, and Jeffrey Wayno, in which we embarked on an immersive journey into the world of medieval manuscripts and documents. From codicology and […]

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“Black is a Church” Book Talk with Prof. Josef Sorett

  The Burke was delighted to host our first large-scale public event in the Reading Room in several years — a reading and panel discussion on Nov. 1st with Dr. Josef Sorett, Dean of Columbia College and Vice President for Undergraduate Education at Columbia University, and Professor of Religion and African American and African Diaspora […]

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Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. Delores Sevena Williams: Portrait Blessing & Library Event

  The Union Theological Seminary Class of 2019 raised funds to commission a new portrait of Dr. Delores Williams, which was finally completed and hung in the seminary this week, an occasion which we marked with great celebration on October 18th. Dr. Williams earned her PhD at Union in 1991, and her influential book Sisters […]

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“Thích Nhất Hạnh: Student and Seminarian” | a new exhibit to further student research

  This year, Burke librarians and Union Theological Seminary students have begun tracing the trajectory of renowned Buddhist activist and author Thích Nhất Hạnh (born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo) in his years studying at U.S. universities. Our new exhibit, “Thích Nhất Hạnh: Student and Seminarian,” showcases reproductions of original archival documents and invites visitors to consider […]

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Hull-House Maps and Papers: On moving a book from general to special collections

  By many measures, Hull-House Maps and papers is not a rare book. In 1895, Jane Addams and her colleagues at Chicago’s Hull-House published Hull-House Maps and Papers: a presentation of nationalities and wages in a congested district of Chicago, together with comments and essays on problems growing out of the social conditions. Their goal […]

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Scrolls, Folders, and Megaphones

    In 2016, two important events occurred: 1) Letha Dawson Scanzoni donated her personal collection of her own writings, research, and activist materials for the Archive of Women in Theological Scholarship and 2) a library staff member ordered a megaphone.   Fast forward to the first day of my Graduate Internship in Primary Sources, […]

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Paris Bibles

  The Burke Library’s resources include some wonderful examples of the first personal study Bible filled with innovations still in use today.  These precious volumes are not from the 19th-century, the Reformation, nor even the first days of the printing press, but are manuscripts from the medieval world, products of the end of the period […]

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The Katie Geneva Cannon Digital Collection

  We are pleased to announce the latest update in the ongoing inter-institutional endeavor to create the Katie Geneva Cannon Digital Collection. This momentous project aims to make Dr. Cannon’s archives and papers, which span from her elementary school days through her later career, publicly available online. With this digital collection nearly complete, users can […]

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New, Team-Taught Course on Medieval Manuscripts

This past fall, two members of Columbia’s faculty and three librarians came together to co-teach a new interdisciplinary seminar on medieval manuscripts as part of Columbia’s vibrant Medieval & Renaissance Studies Program. The class, “Introduction to Medieval Manuscript Studies,” emerged after a series of conversations between Columbia’s medievalists about the need to provide students–from undergraduates […]

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