2014 Colloquium on “When the Dust Has Settled” Accomplished

November 17, 2014 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Anniversary, Bembino, Book & Exhibition Reviews, Conference, Events, Exhibition

We report successful completion of the Colloquium on Friday, 14 November 2014 at Princeton University.

[This post updates both the Announcement for this event (published as Colloquium Announced), and its Colloquium Program.]

Document of Berengarius, detail, unfolded, with concluding date and gathered dust in the fold. Photography © Mildred Budny

“A Settling of Dust”

When the Dust Has Settled

(or, When Good Scholars Go Back . . . )

A Colloquium
co-sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
and the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University

Sponsors

Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University
John H. Rassweiler
Celia Chazelle

The Aim
“Settled Dust Could Give Clarity of Vision”

What happens when a dedicated specialist returns to a subject of long-term interest after other tasks — other projects, jobs, administrative tasks, life in general — have cleared away? While the world, methods, tools, and aims of research (let alone publication) have changed dramatically, sometimes beyond recognition, a return to the chosen subject might also draw upon experience and reflection gained through the passage of time, an accumulation of experiences, and extended “immersion” both in the subject matter and its wider contexts. Thus, although daunting, the return need not involve a start completely from square one or ground zero.

When the dust has settled, and, it may be, the air has cleared, a return might allow for renewal, which could build upon an available, partly remembered, foundation for direction and refinement in this light. Our colloquium offers informal reflections, questions, and discussions about the challenges and potential of returning now to a variety of subjects, in the arts and letters, from Antiquity to Modernity.

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