Dear friends and colleagues,

 

As spots fill up, we write to remind you about our symposium “Touch This Page! A Symposium on Ability, Access, and the Archive” at Northeastern and Harvard Universities on April 4-5, 2019. Each day is at about ¾ capacity now, so there is definitely still space, but if you’re planning on coming, do register (free) at: https://touchthispage.eventbrite.com. We would love to have you!

 

Schedule: 

 

The symposium will run from 11:45 am – 6 pm on Thursday, April 4th 2019 at Northeastern, featuring conversation about the possibilities and applications of technologies to redefine access, especially to archival materials. At 11:45 am the Northeastern College of Arts, Media and Design will be holding a talk by Alex Truesdell on disability and design to complement the symposium speakers, followed by a those presenting on disability, access, and technology, including students and faculty from the Enabling Engineering group at Northeastern, Dan Cohen (Northeastern), Micah Altman (MIT), Emilie Hardman (MIT) and Brian MacDonald (National Braille Press). We will host a reception from 4:30 – 6 pm.

 

The following day, Friday, April 5th, the symposium will take place at Harvard from 9 am – 5 pm. On that day we will discuss histories and technologies of access (particularly as they pertain to reading, disability, and the senses), the collaborations necessary to improve access to archival objects, and possible futures of access. Speakers include Rachel Adams (Columbia University), Kim Charlson (Perkins School for the Blind), Jen Hale (Perkins School for the Blind), Catherine Kudlick (San Francisco State University), Robert McRuer (George Washington University), Mara Mills (New York University), Benjamin Reiss (Emory University), and Matthew Rubery (Queen Mary University of London).

 

For more information on the multi-local and online exhibit “Touch This Page! Making Sense of the Ways We Read”, visit our website touchthispage.com or one of our locations one of our locations: Harvard’s Lamont Library, Northeastern’s Snell Library, the Perkins School for the Blind, and Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library (Copley) now through April 5th. Our website hosts STL files of the pages from the Perkins archive at so that anyone with access to a 3D printer can reproduce the exhibition and its objects.

 

We hope to see you there!

 

Sincerely,

 

Sari Altschuler, co-director of Touch This Page!, Northeastern University

David Weimer, co-director of Touch This Page!, Harvard University