
Bowdoin & The Book seeks to elevate conversations about the “book,” broadly defined to extend from oral traditions to manuscripts, printed books, and digital media, to serve as the conduit for an exploration of the intersections of history, technology, culture, language, literature, economics, art, representation, and more. By positioning Bowdoin College Library’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives as a site of encounter and to situate collections-based study and research within the rich landscape of Maine-based book artists, craftspeople, and booksellers–we hope this series and related efforts will provide research and pedagogical support to effectively engage in high-impact learning across disciplines and co-curricular programs, promote discursive and creative thinking, confront a diversity of perspectives, and acquire hands-on and field work experience.
Fall 2022 Open House
Students from Margaret Boyle “Early Modern Feminisms” and Irina Popescu’s “Latin American Feminisms” hosted a hands-on exploration of materials in Special Collections & Archives. Student curators shared enthusiasms and answered questions about the range of materials on display, from a 1646 edition from María de Zayas (Spain) to a 1714 edition from Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz to (Mexico) to Caterina Camastra’s 2020 re-making of colonial Mexican books. Also featured were contemporary artist books about body autonomy, borders, and identity across Latin America and the Latinx US.