For the occasion of International Human Rights Day, which falls on December 10th every year, I sat down with Chris Laico, Archivist at RBML, who along with Catherine Carson Ricciardi and Carrie Smith*, is responsible for processing human rights related collections. I asked Chris a few questions about archives, human rights, his daily work, […]
The MWM Project: Space, Text and Narrative: An interview with Dr. Manan Ahmed
Dr. Manan Ahmed is Associate Professor of History, and Member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Manan Ahmed ‘s areas of interest and specialization include Muslim intellectual history in South and Southeast Asia; critical philosophy of history, and material culture; the relation between text, space and narrative with a special focus on […]
Columbia Receives Early Slavic Books and Manuscripts from Alumnus Franklin A. Sciacca
In 2019, Columbia has received a large portion of the personal library and realia collection assembled by Hamilton College Professor Emeritus Franklin A. Sciacca (Columbia BA and PhD). The collection consists of Early printed Apostol from the Sciacca Collection approximately 162 items, of which the majority are now located in the Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Books […]
South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) Launched
The South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) was launched on Friday, October 18th, in conjunction with the Annual Conference on South Asia in Madison, Wisconsin. A collaborative initiative of (currently 22) US libraries and (currently 4) partners from South Asia, SAOA is administratively hosted by the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) and available globally open access […]
The Muslim World Manuscript Project: A Codicology Workshop
On September 20th, sixteen students, along with a number of faculty members and librarians, gathered in the Chang Seminar Room of RBML to attend a full-day workshop on codicology led by Dr. Kelly Tuttle, the Muslim World Manuscript (MWM) Project Cataloger at UPenn. The workshop was supported by the Center for the Study of Muslim […]
Toni Morrison and Africa
On August 5, 2019, a great tree fell in the forest of my imagination. Toni Morrison, the great African American writer and international humanist, had died. I could not ignore the sadness. I was personally moved to read, re-read, and to become more familiar with Morrison’s novels and non-fiction writing, including her books for children, […]
Medicine, Religion and Alchemy in South India (Siddha conference)
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a conference on Medicine, Religion and Alchemy in South India: Resources and Permutations of Siddha Traditions and Siddha Medicine that convened at Tübingen University, Germany, 25-27 July 2019. The conference brought together scholars from Austria, France, Germany, India, Poland, Switzerland, and the United States who met […]
Summer Processing of Hebraica and Judaica materials
During the summer, as things quiet down on campus, we often turn to large processing projects, providing further access to many of our otherwise unknown holdings. This summer has been no different in the Hebraica and Judaica collections. In past years, our talented students have cataloged about 2000 rare printed Hebrew books, which can now, […]
The Muslim World Manuscript Project: A great Pedagogical tool! What can manuscripts teach us?
The summer months at Columbia University allow more mental space and time to savor enjoyable conversations and delve into the numerous treasures that the Columbia University Libraries offers to the scholarly community. Last week, I sat down with Prof. A. Tunç Şen, (who just had a baby) and asked him a few questions about his […]
The Muslim World Manuscript Project
How do archives get activated? The Muslim World Manuscript Project at the Columbia University Libraries On the shore where Time casts up its stray wreckage, we gather corks and broken planks, whence much indeed may be argued and more guessed…. Anonymous One question that fascinates me is how the power of archives gets activated. […]