Unbound: Expanding American Book History & Textual Objects of Intercultural Encounters, The Columbia University Seminar in Material Texts
"Unbound" considers the impact on book history of the new collection, American Contact: Objects of Intercultural Encounters and the Boundaries of Book History (UPenn Press, 2024). In forty-eight short chapters, American Contact explores the dynamics of intercultural encounters through the medium of material texts. Each essay focuses on one object to demonstrate how particular ways of reading can render the complex meanings of the objects legible―or explains why and how the meanings remain illegible. In its diversity and breadth, this volume shows how the field of book history can be more inclusive and expansive.
The symposium features scholars from multiple disciplines and career stages. Together, across three panels, they will address questions about the role of collaboration in research, the pedagogical uses of American Contact, and the future of book history. Participants include Ahmed Alami, Rhae Lynn Barnes, Glenda Goodman, David Hall, Joseph Howley, Abimbola Cole Kai-Lewis, Isadora Mota, Shari Rabin, Martin Tsang, and Adrian Weimer.
The symposium will be followed by a reception beginning at 4pm in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library on the 6th floor.
