Dates: Fridays 24 April, 1 May, 15 May, 29 May, 12 June 2020
Time: 13.15-16.15h
Venue: Utrecht University (Drift 21, room 0.06) and Utrecht University Library (29 May: Bucheliuszaal)
Open to: RMa Students who are a member of a Dutch Graduate Research School (onderzoekschool). RMa Students who are members of the Huizinga Institute will have first access until 1 December 2019; PhD candidates can attend as auditor (limited number)
Fee (non members of a Dutch National Research School): € 150
Credits: 5 ECTS
Coordinator: Arnoud Visser (UU)
Register here. Maximum participants in this event: 25 – Unfortunately this course is fully booked – please contact the Huizinga office for a spot on the waiting list
Cultures of Reading
Since the early modern period, reading has been essential for the transmission of ideas, but it is also a vital skill for the cultural historian. Reading is not a stable form of communication. It may be done in many different ways, depending on a host of historical, social, and religious contexts. In the past three decades the ‘History of Reading’ has become a vibrant scholarly field, exploring both historical practices as well as our own as researchers of earlier periods in history. Historians such as Robert Darnton, Carlo Ginzburg, Roger Chartier, Anthony Grafton, and William Sherman have developed challenging new approaches, highlighting a diversity of reading styles and at least as great a variety of research opportunities.
This course serves as an introduction to the cultural history of reading. In a series of lectures and seminars, the phenomenon of reading cultures is studied from a variety of different historical and disciplinary perspectives by academics from across the field of cultural history in the Netherlands, assisted by guest speakers from abroad.
The lectures and seminars that constitute the core of this course will be complemented by a working visit to the UU special collections.
Credits & Certificate
Certificates of participation and credits are available upon request after the event. The event coordinator will decide whether the participant has fulfilled all requirements for the ECTS. Note: the certificate itself is not valid as ECTS, you need to validate it yourself at your local Graduate School.