Department of English

• Monday, March 23, 2026 - 5:15pm to 7:15pm

Class of 1978 Pavilion, sixth floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library

Lynne Farrington, Director of Programs at the Kislak Center, writes:  March 23, 24, and 26: Joan Judge, Common Knowers: Readers, Books, and the Making of Vernacular Knowledge in China March 23, 24, and 26, 2026
Joan Judge, Professor of History, York University
Common Knowers: Readers, Books, and the Making of Vernacular Knowledge in China
A.S.W. Rosenbach Lectures in Bibliography for 2026

Hybrid event: in person at the Class of 78 Orrery Pavilion, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Libraries, and via Zoom.
More Information and registration:
https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/asw-rosenbach-lectures/common-knowers-readers-books

What did common readers read in the midst of the revolutions that punctuated China’s early twentieth century? How did they manage the challenges of the era — from new technologies to novel diseases, from institutional failure to commercial globalization? What did they know and how did they know it? These questions animate this lecture series, which focuses on the relationship between physical books and historical common knowers.

Monday, March 23, 5:30pm ET: Chinese Common Readers: Toward an Understanding of Vernacular Literacy

Tuesday, March 24, 5:30pm ET: Chinese How-To Books: Toward a Definition of Vernacular Knowledge

Thursday, March 26, 5:30pm ET: Itinerant Chinese Texts and Images: Toward Methodologies for Tracing Epistemes

For those of you who are in the Philadelphia region, you are also invited to an informal seminar with Joan Judge on Wednesday, March 25, from 10am-noon, in the Henry Charles Lea Library of the Kislak Center.