The University of South Carolina’s Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections will host a two-day seminar on March 4-5, 2013 called “Understanding the Medieval Book: Preaching and Piety in the Middle Ages.” The seminar is designed for students, librarians, and faculty from around the country, and the registration is limited to 25. The seminar leader, Dr. Eric Johnson from Ohio State University, will also present a free public lecture on Monday, March 4, 2013 at the University of South Carolina library. SC Humanities supported this project with a Mini Grant in October 2012.
The University of South Carolina houses the largest collection of medieval manuscripts in the state. Fully catalogued and digitized, the collection includes ten manuscript volumes in addition to over 120 fragments of breviaries, missals, choir books, bibles, etc. The seminar will enable USC to publicize its regional leadership in medieval studies, and participants will gain knowledge that will allow them to develop curricula for medieval collections, catalogue new collections, and interpret primary source documents.
Dr. Eric Johnson, the seminar leader, will also present an illustrated public lecture “Reintegrating the Disintegrated: Forms, Functions, and Utilities of Medieval Manuscript Fragments in Modern Scholarship” on Monday, March 4, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. at the Irvin Department of Rare Books. This presentation will show how university collections can use individual manuscript pages for instructional purposes. Dr. Johnson is the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Ohio State University and holds a PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of York in the United Kingdom.
For more information about the public lecture, please contact the Irvin Department of Rare Books at 803-777-3847.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. SC Humanities programs and initiatives are balanced, reflecting sensitivity to the diversity of ideas, encourage open dialogue, demonstrate integrity, and are ethical in operations.
Image: David in Prayer from the University of South Carolina's "Boyvin Hours"; courtesy of the University of South Carolina
