The Manuscript Studies Interest Group aims to bring together faculty, graduate students, librarians/curators, fellows/visiting scholars, and anyone else at U-M interested in manuscript studies or engaged in research on manuscripts. Manuscript cultures are central to premodern societies. Different manuscript formats and material substrates connect texts, images, languages, reading practices, and ritual performances, which in a university setting are often split across multiple departments and fields. Having this broad framework will enable the interest group to explore collaboration across disciplines and facilitate research among different manuscript traditions through an object-centered approach.

In monthly meetings during the Fall and Winter terms, participants will present on current research interests as well as give more general overviews of particular manuscript cultures for informal discussion and exchange. They will also occasionally discuss key readings which have shaped manuscript studies in specific areas or in broader ways. In addition, the interest group hopes to be able to explore manuscript collections in person together, both in and around Ann Arbor as well as further afield. Inviting an external speaker once a year (potentially funded through the History of Art Department) would be a great way to connect the interest group with scholars beyond U-M.

Organized by Tina Bawden (History of Art) and Trent Walker (Asian Languages & Cultures)