This is a past event
This Stacks Alive event celebrates four research projects conducted by Aberdeen's research community. Each was completed through an award from the Aberdeen Humanities Fund, which supports research on aspects of the University's collections through the generosity of external donors to the Fund. Our four presenters will highlight some of the findings of their research, and the work done by them to enhance our understanding of these important collections and to connect the collections with a range of different materials held elsewhere.
The four speakers will be:
Dr Andrew Gordon, Senior Lecturer in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature on the Beale papers. These papers, held in Aberdeen’s Special Collections Centre, are a collection of Latin, French and English letters which reveals the intersection of commercial, political and religious interests in the correspondence networks of early modern Europe. Dr Gordon’s calendaring, bibliographical description and indexing of this corpus (which features monarchs, merchants, statesmen and scholars across Europe) is the first step to putting this collection on the intellectual map at a time of expanding interest in the early-modern letter. His work therefore connects Aberdeen’s collections with related holdings in the British Library, and fosters connections with centres of research in Oxford and London.
Dr Colin Barr, Senior lecturer in history, on the memory and preservation of convent and other Catholic archives. Dr Barr’s award funded a one-day workshop to bring together historians, archivists, and special collections librarians interested in the historical and material remains of Scottish Catholicism. With the recent placement of the historical collection of the Scottish Catholic Archives in Aberdeen, attention must turn to the identification and preservation of the records of Scottish Catholicism which are either not held in an institutional setting or are not widely known or easily accessible. The purpose of the workshop and the larger project to which it contributed is to preserve the records of the Roman Catholic Church, and in turn ensure that the full history of Scotland is available to future generations.
Dr Zohar Hadromi-Allouche, Lecturer in religious studies, on the image of Eve in the Muslim tradition. Although Eve's figure dominates multiple aspects of gender relations in contemporary 'Abrahamic'-oriented societies, so far the Muslim Eve has attracted little scholarly attention. Existing studies tend to view her through the biblical prism. Dr Hadromi-Allouche’s project had a broader perspective, and combined an analysis of Eve's image within the Islamic context, with a comparative study of other Near Eastern texts (Greek, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian). The project compared Aberdeen’s Biesenthal Collection of Rabbinical books with those held in libraries in London, Haifa and Jerusalem.
Mr Michael Stratigos, postgraduate student in archaeology, on the human occupation and landscape history at Loch Kinord. Loch Kinord, Aberdeenshire, in the Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve, is renowned for its beautiful natural setting. But it is also a landscape with a deep human history. Eleven artefacts from Loch Kinord are held within the University's Museum Collection, attesting to 5000 years of human history. However, little is known concerning the archaeological landscape where these artefacts were found. Through archaeological fieldwork (around and in the loch), this project investigated the artefacts and the archaeological context of these objects to tell the story of human occupation at Loch Kinord.
'Stacks Alive' will be chaired by Dr Adelyn Wilson, Lecturer in law and Chair of the Aberdeen Humanities Fund.
The event is FREE and open to all. Book online to reserve your place https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stacks-alive-tickets-31414041243
- Speaker
- Dr Andrew Gordon, Dr Colin Barr, Dr Zohar Hadromi-Allouche, Mr Michael Stratigos
- Hosted by
- Special Collections Centre, University of Aberdeen
- Venue
- The Sir Duncan Rice Library