Reading for Social Change: What We Can Do for World AIDS Day and Beyond

Posted on December 1, 2020 by

Guest post by Brittany Robinson, wellness education program coordinator with the Wellness Resource Center

December 1st is World AIDS Day—a time to show support for those whose lives are impacted by HIV/AIDS and to remember those who have died from an HIV/AIDS-related illness. World AIDS Day has been recognized and helped raise awareness for 32 years. The 2020 theme is “Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility,” which encourages us to unite worldwide to reduce new cases of HIV, end stigma, and make the world a better place for folks living with HIV. This post is a collaboration between the Wellness Resource Center and Temple University Libraries.

Approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV and about 14% are unaware of their status. Living with HIV can be challenging due to isolation and stigmatization, but this does not have to be the reality. We have the power to work individually and collectively to create change. Using kind person-first language, becoming informed about the realities of HIV, and addressing misconceptions can reduce experiences of shame and isolation. One way we can begin doing the work of educating ourselves and reducing stigma is by reading accounts that accurately portray the experiences of folks living with HIV/AIDS.

How Does Reading Help?

Reading provides us the freedom and space to explore perspectives and experiences that are different from our own. Research shows that reading can improve empathy and perspective-taking.

Here are some suggested titles, available through Temple Libraries:

Positive by Tom Bouden

Bouden’s graphic novel tells the story of a young woman, Sarah, who discovers that she is HIV positive. Readers are taken on a journey as Sarah learns to navigate taking medication, responses from friends, and stigma. This story focuses on how life with HIV can be and often is filled with love and joy.

Vital Signs: Essential AIDS Fiction by Richard Canning

Canning has organized a collection of powerful short stories that speak to the struggle, bravery, and resilience of folks living with HIV and AIDS.

Available Resources

Temple’s Tuttleman Counseling Services has specially-trained therapists and support groups for Temple University students.

Temple’s Wellness Resource Center has workshops and resources centered around healthy sexuality, stigma reduction, and social change.

Philadelphia FIGHT provides inclusive and patient centered comprehensive primary care, and HIV primary care, research, education, and advocacy to folks living with HIV and those who are susceptible.

AIDS United is a national organization with a mission of ending HIV in the United States. They offer blog posts, free webinars, and other resources for folks interested in improving the state of HIV nationally.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a wealth of information to help folks understand the basics of HIV, prevention methods, living fully with HIV, stigma reduction, and more.

Reading for Social Change: #1Thing We Can Do For A Safer Tomorrow

Posted on October 12, 2020 by

Guest post by Liz Zadnik, associate director of the Wellness Resource Center

* Take Care While Reading: Mention of intimate partner abuse *

October is recognized nationally as Domestic Violence Awareness Month—a time to honor individuals and families who have experienced abuse, as well as for communities to join together in efforts to create positive change. The 2020 theme is #1Thing, as in one action we can each take to move us toward a world free of interpersonal violence. Today’s post is a collaboration between the Wellness Resource Center and Temple University Libraries.

While millions of Americans experience some form of intimate partner violence during their lifetime, it is often something they endure alone. Making something visible—speaking these truths—can minimize the shame and isolation so many may experience. One way we can start this collective conversation is by reading the accounts of folks brave and generous enough to share their lives with us.

How does reading help us in our collective efforts to create a safer world?

Emerging research has found reading literary fiction can help readers with empathy and compassion. The skills of empathy—perspective-taking, staying out of judgement, identifying emotions, and then communicating recognition of those emotions—are strengthened as we bear witness to the perceptions, thought processes, and worldviews of characters.

Here are some suggested titles, all available through Temple Libraries:

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

Machado’s memoir of her experience with an abusive partner weaves together themes of sizeism, heterosexism, and cultural understandings of love and worthiness. Incredibly candid, Machado approaches a difficult subject with wit and a combination of narrative tropes—including classic horror—to create something entirely unique.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

A classic text that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction, The Color Purple shares the stories of women connected through their pain, growth, and bravery. The powerful novel offers a journey that is inspiring and life-affirming.

Milk and Honey and The Sun And Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

Kaur’s poetry seeks to raise awareness of domestic and family violence and how social norms contribute to victim-blaming, shame, and pain. Unflinching and honest, each offering evokes a range of emotions and asks the reader to open their heart to something new.

Resources Available

Temple’s Tuttleman Counseling Services has specially-trained therapists and support groups for Temple University students who have experienced different forms of interpersonal violence.

Philadelphia’s Domestic Violence Hotline connects folks with multiple organizations in the area for crisis intervention, safety planning, resources, and referrals. All conversations are free, confidential and anonymous: 1-866-723-3014

The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers support to anyone in the United States and also has a chat feature available any time, 24-hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-799-7233.

Free and Easy: The Appearance of Truly Useful Cultural Heritage Data

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Anne Harlow

William Noel pointing to a presentation projection on a whiteboard.

William Noel at the Center for Humanities at Temple

“My mission is to bring art and people together, for learning, discovery, and enjoyment.” –William Noel

On Thursday, April 25th, the Center for Humanities at Temple hosted William Noel, internationally renowned expert in the application of digital technologies to manuscript studies. Dr. Noel is currently director of the Special Collections Center, and Founding Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His presentation, “Free and Easy: The Appearance of Truly Useful Cultural Heritage Data”, covered the restoration and digitization of the Archimedes Palimpsest, a project that he led while at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. Dr. Noel concluded with a discussion of the reasons why a “free and easy” approach is best for digitization of cultural materials. (Eureka!)

What is the Archimedes Palimpsest?

Upon initial examination, what is now known as the Archimedes Palimpsest, appears to be a medieval prayer book, dating from 1229, written by the scribe Johannes Myronas in Jerusalem. Back then, parchment was expensive, and therefore was sometimes “recycled.” To make this prayer book, the scribe scraped off old mathematical text from some parchment and wrote new text on top, making the book a palimpsest. From then until 1906, this prayer book was used in liturgical services, and suffered numerous abuses, most notably dripping candle wax, mold, missing pages, and images painted over text as late as the 1930s. In 1906 the Danish philologist Johan Heiberg discovered the manuscript in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Istanbul, and identified the hidden text as Archimedes. He photographed every page, and with the help of only a magnifying glass, transcribed and published the underlying text that he could perceive.

The twentieth century was no kinder to manuscripts than the middle ages, and from about 1930 to 1991, the Archimedes Palimpsest was either lost or gone from public view until 1998, when an anonymous collector bought the manuscript at an auction at Christie’s in New York. This collector brought it to William Noel at the Walters Museum in Baltimore for preservation and digitization, for the world to study and enjoy.

Why is the Archimedes Palimpsest important?

Archimedes (c.287BC-212BC), brilliant scientist, inventor, mathematician, and engineer of ancient Greece, worked extensively in geometry, calculating the value of pi, the circle, the sphere, and cylinder. He developed a theory of buoyancy called the Archimedes Principle. Of the nine known treatises by Archimedes in Greek, hidden within the Archimedes Palimpsest are seven. Of these seven, The Stomachion and The Method are the only known copies in the world. Archimedes’ treatise On Floating Bodies contained here is the unique source in the original Greek. These Archimedes texts predate any other surviving Archimedes manuscripts by 400 years.

“Best of all is to win. But if you cannot win, then fight for a noble cause…” – Hyperides

Extensive sections of previously lost speeches by the 4th century Greek orator Hyperides, the largest discovery of new Hyperides text in over a century, also reside hidden in the Archimedes Palimpsest. Hyperides spoke at public meetings on topics of Athenian court cases as well as politics and democracy. Previous texts of Hyperides are gleaned only from fragments of papyri.

Other texts hidden beneath the prayerbook are a Commentary on Aristotles Catergories, two Byzantine liturgical manuscripts, and two unidentified manuscripts.

Restoration

Conservation and restoration of the Archimedes Palimpsest is an enormous and ongoing task. Progress is slow and the work is meticulous and painstaking. To prepare the manuscript for imaging, the codex had to be taken apart because the hidden text continued under the folds of the parchment in the spine of the book. Because some of the glue was from the late 20th century, it was particularly difficult to remove. It took 4 years just to take off the glue! Next, the parchment was analyzed chemically to determine the condition of the collagen, the main component of parchment. Here you see an image of an enlargement of a cross-section sample of the parchment, the size of a pinhead, from the Archimedes Palimpsest. The Archimedes text is the dark stain at the top of the parchment. In this sample, the collagen is sound. But where the manuscript has mold, the collagen is breaking down and disintegrating.

Imaging and Digitization

Modern technology allows us to view the underlying text of the Archimedes Palimpsest through various techniques. One technique is multi-spectral imaging. In ultraviolet light, both the overlying and underlying texts are visible. Ink blocks ultraviolet light, but the parchment flouresces, causing another light source. There is then, two light sources, one going into the page, and one coming from the page going out, which allows us to see the underlying text. When the images are merged together, the underlying text becomes red, and enlarging the image allows the underlying text to be legible. The only way to access the text underneath the gold-leaf illustrations added to the codex in the twentieth century, was to use the particle accelerator at Stanford University. Ink used for the Archimedes manuscript contained a high amount of iron, which could be recognized and captured only by the strongest xrays such as those generated by the particle accelerator. In the following image, an abstraction of an object or a boat in the sea, one can see that Archimedes considered the world to be round.

Principles of Digitizating Cultural Artifacts

William Noel explained the basic principles that formed the foundation for the many decisions made during the Archimedes Palimpsest project. His principles are based on ethical considerations, digital use and sustainability, and economic value for the institution undertaking the project. Taking the example of the Mona Lisa, Noel explained that thousands of people visit the Louvre every year to see the Mona Lisa, even though they already know what the painting looks like. In fact, the reason that the Mona Lisa has so many visitors is precisely because so many know the painting already and want to see the original. Therefore, making digital images as broadly available and usable as possible to the largest audience benefits the institution in name recognition, visitors, and financially. The Walters Museum in Baltimore has already benefited this way because many of their medieval manuscripts are so freely available, and that they appear at the head of results in Google image searches. Thus, the Walters Museum gains name recognition, prestige, and popularity.

The sustainability of the data benefits from Noel’s philosophy of wide availability and use. As he explains, data from digitized cultural documents must be:

1. well documented
2. free
3. just take it
4. just use it

The data from the Archimedes Palimpsest is licensed in the Creative Commons, and images also appear on Flickr. As a result, the data from the Archimedes Project is preserved, not only at the Walters Museum, but at Stanford, and at other universities as well.

Noel also explained the importance of presenting such data as data, pure and simple, allowing others to create interfaces for study and exhibition. Why? Because interfaces have a shelf-life of only about three years, but the pure data can be used and re-used. Noel said that too often institutions are busy creating “boutiquey” interfaces for their digitized data, that these institutions are presenting “apple pie” to the researchers, when simply presenting the raw data in many cases would be more helpful. In addition, Noel gave an amusing way to think about data. Dr. Noel says that data should be:

Sustainable
Usable
Complete
Known

The criteria for data to be sustainable is that it should be cheap to maintain, in an interface that should last, and be simple, not relational. By complete, Dr. Noel explained that images must be presented at full resolution (with derivatives as an option), with all descriptive metadata and all technical metadata. And to make the data known, a discovery layer for human readers should be developed. Raw xml can be presented that is machine readable, with a style sheet that combines images with the xml, to give a traditional type of presentation.

Dr. Noel ended the presentation discussing new ways for social media to further scholarship and knowledge. For example, jokes are often hidden within medieval manuscripts. If a scholar finds a joke in a manuscript, they tweet it! The Penn Provenance Project uses social media to help identify the provenance, or historic background of the ownership of precious books and manuscripts by crowdsourcing. Scholars writing blogs about the images are important, too. Another project, t-pen.org, will, in the next few years, make manuscripts texts searchable.

Using these techniques, we can all share in William Noel’s mission, “to bring art and people together for learning, discovery, and enjoyment.”

William Noel posing with a group at the Center for Humanities at Temple.

William Noel answering questions at the Center for Humanities at Temple.

For more information see:

The Archimedes Palimpsest; 2004; 2 May 2013 <http://archimedespalimpsest.org/about/>

Archimedes Palimpsest. 2 May 2013 <http://www.digitalpalimpsest.org/>

Archimedes. Works. New York; Dover, 195-?.

Noel, William. Revealing the Lost Codex of Archimedes; TED: Ideas Worth Spreading; Apr 2012; 2 May 2013 <http://www.ted.com/talks/william_noel_revealing_the_lost_codex_of_archimedes.html>

“Archimedes.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 02 May 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32808/Archimedes>.

Krock, Lexi. Inside the Archimedes Palimpsest; NOVA; 09.30.03; 2 May 2013 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/inside-archimedes-palimpsest.html>

Netz, Reviel and William Noel. The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity’s Greatest Scientist. Philadelphia; Da Capo, 2007.

-Anne Harlow, May 2 2013.

Father Paul Washington: A Community Champion to Celebrate

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Robert Andrew Diamond

The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection will honor Father Paul Washington’s legacy as a leader in the vanguard of social justice at an upcoming exhibit in April that will showcase artifacts from the Paul M. Washington Papers. Father Washington was the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Advocate at 18th and Diamond Streets in Philadelphia for twenty-five years (1962-1987) and a leader in the local community. Location, directions and hours can be found at: http://library.temple.edu/collections/blockson.

A few highlights of his involvement in social justice include: the promotion of the Black Power movement by hosting the National Black Power Convention (1968), facilitating the ordination of eleven women into the Episcopal Church (1974), and serving on the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission of the eviction attack (bombing) by the Philadelphia Police on the MOVE household (1986).

At the core of the collection are Father Washington’s extensive correspondence, sermons, and speeches covering over five decades. In addition, photographs, news clippings, and journal articles provide information to supplement the Washington papers.

The FBI kept a file on Father Washington because of his civil rights activism and involvement in the Black Power Movement during the 1960’s. Access to the file was gained through the Freedom of Information Act. It is another valuable source of information available in the Paul M. Washington Papers.

Campaign 2012! All the Info You Need to Vote is Right Here!

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Anne Harlow

A red, white and blue button with stars that says "vote". We created Voter Information –2012 Election Guide to give voters at Temple quality information on the upcoming presidential election. If you are a first-time voter, you can find information in the guide about polling locations and voter registration. To stay informed on daily campaign developments, to read public statements made by candidates, and to see what is being said about candidates, you can read the RSS feeds from fact checkers, reporters, polls, and bloggers. If you are curious about the history and political theory behind presidential elections the United States, you can find information about these subjects on the guide and through links to other research guides. Checking this guide regularly will keep you informed before you head to the polls in November.

“Philadelphia: Where to Turn?” Information Guide

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Anne Harlow

The “Philadelphia: Where to Turn?” information guide provides information on services to help our city’s residents. The guide lists where to find food assistance programs, shelters, and health services, as well as information on job-skills development, educational programs, and community centers, addressing the needs of many Philadelphians. The resources in the guide range from municipal and state programs to programs sponsored by non-profit organizations. These resources were selected for the free or low-cost quality services they provide. “Philadelphia: Where to turn?” also provides information on volunteering opportunities in the city. The guide will continue to grow as new services become available.

“Philadelphia: Where to turn?” provides access to information on services available to Philadelphia residents who are in need of assistance. You can use this guide to find:

Food assistance
Shelter/housing
Health services
Educational opportunities (G.E.D., adult education, etc.)
Job training and employment opportunities
Legal help
Resources for New Americans (E.S.L.,citizenship test preparation, etc.)
Volunteer opportunities
Community centers

Temple University Libraries would like to thank our library intern, Joseph Schaffner, for creating this guide.

2011-2012 Library Prize Winners!

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Fred Rowland

Here are the winners of this year’s Library Prize for Undergraduate Research and the Library Prize for Undergraduate Research on Sustainability & the Environment.
Please join us on Tuesday, May 1 at 4 PM in the Paley Lecture Hall for the Awards Ceremony. The winners and their faculty sponsors will discuss the prize-winning papers. Refreshments provided.

Library Prize for Undergraduate Research

Summer Beckley, “A Crisis of Identity: Advertising & the British Ministry of Information’s Propaganda Posters of World War II”
History 4997, Advisor: Richard Immerman
Afrora Muca, “From Classroom to Battlefield: The Role of Students in the Closing of Carlisle Indian Industrial School, 1918”
History 4997, Advisor: Andrew Isenberg
Eugene Tsvilik, “No Enemies to the Left: The Communist Party of the United States and Crises of International Communism, 1956-1968”
History 4997, Advisor: Petra Goedde

Library Prize for Undergraduate Research on Sustainability & the Environment

Anthony Shields, Jenna Fink, Hasan Malik, Nicola Horscroft
“The treatment of drinking water using polymeric sorbents”
Engineering 4296
Faculty: Huichun (Judy) Zhang
Brian Davidson, Fiona Farrelly, Thomson Liang, Melissa MacKinnon
“Sustainable and efficient rope pump”
Engineering 4296
Faculty: Robert J. Ryan
(Honorable Mention)
Rachel Maddaluna
“Mitigation of climate change and species loss through avoided deforestation”
Biology 4391
Faculty: Brent Sewall

—Fred Rowland

Architects of Piety: The Interview

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Fred Rowland

In 2011 Temple University religion professor Vasiliki Limberis published Architects of Piety: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Cult of the Martyrs (Oxford University Press). In this new work, she provides a novel interpretation of the lives and works of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Though they are mainly known as the principle architects of the Christian Trinitarian doctrine, Professor Limbers shows that the “cult of the martyrs” was central to the theology, worship, practice, and organization of Christianity in fourth century Cappadocia. The Architects of Piety opens up an exciting new line of research into the world of early Christianity. On January 18, Professor Limberis stopped by my office to discuss her new book.

Easier Access to the Chronicle of Higher Ed – on iPads Too

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Steven Bell

The Chronicle of Higher Education is the primary industry newspaper for the field of higher education. It is regular reading for both faculty and administrators – and graduate students. The Temple University Libraries purchases an annual site license to the Chronicle of Higher Education. That means any member of the Temple University community may access the full-text of every Chronicle article – and has access to the full-text of every archived article. Getting access from remote locations is now even easier. The Chronicle will recognize your Temple University email account and allow full-text access to all the content. In order for this to work you simply need to register as a Chronicle user with your Temple University email account. Once you have an account you should consider registering for the Academe Today daily newsletter that will give you access to the latest Chronicle articles. Please know that if you already have a Chronicle account you can simply add your Temple email to the existing account by editing your profile. Establishing a completely new one is not necessary. If you own an iPad and prefer reading your newspapers and magazines on it, you can now download an app for reading the Chronicle. The app is free to all Temple University community members. If you have any questions about obtaining access to the Chronicle of Higher Education as a member of the Temple University community contact Steven Bell for assistance.

Do You Know the Top Two Complaints About Paley?

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Steven Bell

As the library staff member who receives all the suggestions and complaints that come from members of the Temple University community I can answer this question. Perhaps you already knew the answer: 1) Noise 2) Food Despite the efforts of the library staff to create an environment that is welcoming to all students, we are occasionally challenged to meet everyone’s needs. Whether it’s two students talking in one of the quiet zones, students getting a little too loud in the noise-tolerant zones, students talking on cellphones, a food mess left on a study table or a student eating a food truck meal that for one reason or another is distracting to other students, we continue to experience situations that leave someone dissatisfied with their Paley Library experience. In recent months we’ve been asked to create very strict, zero tolerance rules about both noise and food. One student even asked us to hire a security guard to force students to be quiet. We believe that strict rules about food and noise are difficult if not impossible to enforce in a building of Paley’s size, and we want to treat students as responsible adults.
All that said, we do need to create a better environment in Paley Library, and to do so we need the help of everyone who uses this great community resource. In an effort to remind all those who use Paley Library about the top two complaints we have designed a small card with this information, and have placed these cards throughout the Paley Library. You will see them on desks, carrels and computer workstations. It’s just a reminder. We know the vast majority of those who use the Library are considerate of their fellow library users. Sometimes we could all use a reminder that this is Your Library and together it is Our library. Paley belongs to all of us. Let’s make it the best Library possible so that everyone has a great experience each and every time they are here. If you have any ideas to share about improving Paley Library, be it noise and food issues or any other situation, please leave a comment.

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